Me, The Legendary Hero: Part III
by RyJones
Summary: It's been 2 years since the war has ended. It's been 2 years since Jak learned of his heritage, was offered to see the universe, but chose to remain on the planet with his wife, son & loved ones. Things were looking up...until a whole new kind of war- one Jak & the others desperately needed to win- was only just beginning. (Installment 3 of MTLH series). Rated M. Love my MTLH fans!
1. Life Without Fear

**A/N:**

AND WE'RE BACK, BABY! Hello, hello! I know, you guys anticipated a much longer break between Part 2 and 3, but I really wanted to get a bit of a head start.

Uploads might be sporadic - I am currently in the works of publishing my first novel! Things are a little crazy right now but FanFiction is still my home and my favorite place to write, so I will keep this going strong. You all had me first, and I'm still dedicated to completing this tale. Besides...FanFiction helped shape me into the writer I am today.

I am thankful to this community, thankful to you, thankful to this website...thankful, thankful, thankful (and it just so happens to be Thanksgiving Eve!).

Without further adieu...I present to you: _Me, The Legendary Hero: Part 3._

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 _Jak_.

I had always wondered what freedom- _real_ freedom- felt like.

I had always wondered what it would be like to catch a break, to be able to enjoy life without worry or fear.

I wasn't used to the idea of simply enjoying life, feeling content and at ease as often as I did lately. I expected something to go terribly wrong all the time. I expected a new war, a new battle, a new fight with a new enemy. Nothing ever came easy. So, I never got comfortable.

And it's a good thing I didn't, because over the past two years, the crime rates in every local town had slowly increased to the point where no one was safe.

There was no explanation, no reason or rhyme to why things had gone south. I mean, gangs were always a thing, the mob, the rich who broke the law without "breaking the law". Gambling and underground clubs exposed. Drugs; tons of drugs being bought and sold. Thugs fighting other thugs, who then fought innocent people. People knew how to protect themselves at least, but there had been more break-ins in the last year than I'd ever seen in my life. Security drone companies were making a hefty profit from all their sales, and citizens were off the streets by early evening. Whether it was something in the air, or a change in the system...shit was hitting the fan.

Life had been easy for a little while, but I knew it would be short-lived.

Moving didn't help either. Well, it did, at first. Haven City, my first home since my departure from Sandover Village many years ago, held memories. _Too_ many memories, both good and bad. Most of them ugly. Part of me held onto for so long it because it was familiar, just as Sandover had been. But eventually, I figured out that "familiarity" didn't necessarily mean the particular place should be called "home".

I'd kept my tiny apartment in Spargus City, but with my son Sparxon getting older and more mobile, my wife Darla and I needed more space. Spargus remains our second home, but those memories, too, were just as painful as those from Haven.

We needed a fresh start. And, of course, my girl knew exactly where we needed to be.

Kras City was perfect. It was new and it was exciting and it was full of life. The perfect combination of country and city rolled into one- endless beaches, forests protecting its borders. Places to go, people to see, events to attend, vehicle races to coordinate.

I had a job and a purpose- I'd opened up a shop, a new garage with Keira, that made profit off of racers' broken down cars and Keira's racing team. I provided the clients, while her employees provided the maintenance and services. She and Maichael remained in Haven, and she kept her original shop there, but her garage in Kras gave me a profession I actually enjoyed. A job, I should add, that didn't involve me going on suicide-missions regularly.

Life was good. It was really, really good.

Until it wasn't.

I hoped for the best, expected the worst. Darla _actually_ saw it coming in her visions, but I saw it coming too. All that mattered now was that my family and friends were safe from harm, and that law enforcement would find a way to improve the terrible situations happening in all the cities post-war. Things lately had been...tough. But my loved ones always came first and I needed to protect them first and foremost before the city itself.

"Daddy."

I shook myself free of my thoughts, tearing my eyes away from the pink and orange sunset sky to gaze down at my mini-me. He was tugging on my pant leg fervently, blinking his wide, indigo eyes.

I lifted his small form up with one arm, his legs clinging to my hips as he gazed out at the ocean view. He didn't say anything as he stared, the look on his face pensive, yet concerned. He sighed quietly, his soft, little hand resting on my chest.

I nudged his cheek with my nose. "You alright, buddy?" I asked him. Even though he didn't often speak, it was obvious he was always deep in thought. There were things in his head that I couldn't see, that no one could see. I didn't know what went on in that brilliant little brain of his, but I knew he was just that; brilliant.

He looked up at me, his blonde eyebrows lowered. "Yeah," he squeaked.

He smiled at me then, taking my cheeks between his palms and smushing them. I kissed his forehead with fish-lips and he giggled. "Fishy face!" He cried out.

I laughed hard and squeezed him. Sparky just loved making people laugh- especially me. He buried his face in my neck, and I held his head to me, breathing in.

In life, you think certain things mean so much to you, that they're everything to you. You find love, or a passion, or even a small hobby. You find reasons to live, to keep going, reasons to be strong. You find that purpose everyone searches for their whole lives. But you don't realize how small some of those things are once you find a love like what I had for my son.

Sparxon was everything to me. Absolutely everything.

"Daddy?"

I tilted my head to look at my kid. "Yeah, bud?"

He pressed his cheek to mine, wrapping his arms around my neck. His finger tips slid into the back of the collar of my shirt, and they tapped the seal of Mar tattoo on my left shoulder blade. I rocked slowly, rubbing his back with one hand, thinking of how one day he would be too big for me to hold him like this. He was growing fast, transforming from a literal sack of potatoes into a little person. But no matter how big he got, no matter how much he changed or didn't change...he'd still be everything. He'd _always_ be everything.

"Me too, Daddy." He finally said.

"Me too?" I inquired, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Me too."

I blinked, looking back out the window at the ocean. No, he didn't say much, but when he did speak, he frequently said things like that. He'd ramble or say things that made sense in theory, but didn't make sense at all, because he couldn't possibly understand what he was even saying in the first place. _Me too what? What does he think he's agreeing with?_

The sky was darker now, meaning it was almost bedtime for my boy. _Although, he does have the rest of his life to sleep..._

I kissed his blonde head. "Sparky-"

"Story?" He pulled back and beamed at me. "Yes?"

I chuckled. "Yeah. Sure." I closed the curtains to the window and carried him to his room. "But just one. Mommy's going to be mad at me if she finds out I kept you up again."

Sparxon smirked mischievously. "Two story?"

I rolled my eyes, hitting his door closed with my backside. "Okay. Two stories." He was very well-behaved; he deserved two bedtime stories. But he _did_ get cranky in the morning whenever D and I kept him up too late the night before, so I knew I shouldn't give in to him so much.

But, then again, he had the rest of his life to sleep.

I sat us down onto his little mattress, leaning against the headboard. I moved him next to me in the crook of my arm and he clasped his hands together expectantly.

"Which ones do you want to hear? Which one first?" I asked, brushing a curl out of his indigo orbs.

"You meeting Mommy." He answered, then gasped, bolting up and scrambling into my lap. "No! No. Do the-the one...the one when Uncle Dax raced the zoomer. No!" He tapped my chest frantically. "Tell me Grandpa's. When he saved you and Uncle Dax."

I rested the back of my head against the headboard with a thud. "That one again? I've told you it, like, four times this week."

"Again, Dad." He grabbed me by the ears, forcing me to look down at him. "It's best."

"That's your favorite, huh?"

He nodded, releasing my ears. His hand went to my shoulder and he touched my tattoo again. "Don't be sad."

I smiled. "I'm not."

"You is."

"You _are_." I corrected him.

"No you."

I growled at him, making him squeal and jump back, little sparks of dark eco zapping out of his body at my hands. He was right; in a way, I _was_ sad- speaking about my father, the great King Damas Mar...it was hard to talk about him. The mere mention of his name made me ache in a thousand different ways.

But I also loved to tell Sparky about his heritage, remind him of the legacy he was a part of. And he loved to hear about Damas- god, he just _loved_ it. Sparx loved Damas even though he didn't even know him.

And Sparky knew me well, maybe better than I knew myself. He was so aware of what I was feeling, all the time, even when I didn't express it. His giggles quieted and I dragged him back up to me, sitting him on my stomach.

"Sometimes it makes me sad to talk about Grandpa." I said, patting Sparxon's leg. "But it also makes me happy to share these stories with you."

Sparxon's bottom lip jutted out in a pout, and he looked a hell of a lot like his mother. He gazed up at me through his long eyelashes.

"I miss him, Dad."

I sighed. The fact that he missed a man he didn't even know...I felt like I was doing something right.

Sparxon grinned at me then with the few teeth he had.

"The best." He said.

I shook my head at him. "What's the best?"

He flung his arms around my neck, squeezing until I faked a choking sound. "You!"

I unwrapped his arms and bit his hand. "I'm the best?"

"Yeah!" He laughed and yanked his hands from my mouth.

"No, bud. You're the best."

"No _you_." He argued, staring at me squarely.

I rolled my eyes for the second time that night. Boy, did he love this game. He rolled off of me then, snuggling up to my side as he rested his head on my stomach.

"Story time?" I asked him.

"Grandpa's story."

I slid myself down until I hit the pillow. I got comfortable, placing my hand on Sparxon's head, petting it in the way he liked.

"So, there we were," I began with a silent yawn. "Daxter and I were up against some of the nastiest creatures we had ever seen..."

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Darla_.

I entered the apartment, eyes watering from exhaustion. I sighed, quietly placing my keys in the bowl near the front door.

"Hello?" I called quietly, hoping my son was asleep in his bed. By the silence I got in response, I had a feeling I knew exactly what I'd be walking into.

As I headed down the hall to my left toward Sparxon's room, a vision flashed behind my eyes of my son, fourteen years old, learning how to drive a zoomer. His Aunt Keira was teaching him.

I stumbled into the wall a bit, distracted by the images. I'd seen this one a lot lately, and I wondered why the universe was showing me it. Maybe it was because I loved seeing my boy, living and breathing and existing as the love of my life. But the universe had been showing me relevant and irrelevant images that consistently buzzed in my mind, day in and day out, a thousand futures and pasts twisting together. Fitting and not fitting, like puzzle pieces from different puzzle sets- some sliding together perfectly, while others piled up in corners. None of them mattered, but _all_ of them mattered. So, Keira teaching my son to drive...it was only just another piece of one of the puzzles.

I smiled to myself as I cracked open Sparx's bedroom door. Lo and behold...my two men were sound asleep.

Jak was a massive lump on Sparxon's bed, completely taking over, but my little boy found a way to wedge himself comfortably under his father's arm. Jak's cheek was smushed against Sparky's head, and the two of them were breathing heavily in sync with one another.

I leaned on the door frame, smirking and shaking my head. Those two were peas in a pod.

After a moment of adoration, I crept over to my boys. I knelt beside the bed, leaning down to kiss my son on his temple. I then moved to Jak's face, brushing his green and blonde hair back before pressing my lips to his.

His nose twitched and his arms tightened around our kid. He blinked his eyes open slowly, then smiled wide.

"Hey, baby." He rasped, gazing heavy-lidded up at me. "How was work?"

"Damn, you've got your sexy voice right now." I growled quietly, nipping his nose. He rolled his eyes and I snickered. He took my hand and grazed his lips over my knuckles, making my shoulders relax. "Work was good. Tiring."

I didn't need to work- Jak and I both didn't. Damas made sure we were well-off, that was for certain. But we liked doing things, we liked helping people and being out in the world. I was a combat medic at heart, and I was able to acquire a position with the Kras City Freedom Force that allowed me to train fighters in emergency situations. I was able to teach them how to respond to a medical emergency, even in the middle of battle. There weren't many fights these days, but the usual city crime and gang uprisings proved that it was necessary to train people in medicine...and, in general, emergency situations.

I loved to inspire others. I loved to help. I loved our new home, and my life with my husband and son.

But it was only a matter of time before the next chapter of our lives, the next major warning my visions provided me for years now, would begin.

Jak reached up and touched the side of my face, his thumb running across my bottom lip. "Long day?"

I nodded, leaning into his palm. "Long day." I lifted an eyebrow at my man. "Did you keep him up again?"

Jak grinned sheepishly. "He _really_ likes my stories."

I grinned back, standing and kissing him on the head. I patted his butt. "Come on. Get your giant self out of the poor boy's bed."

Jak grunted, slowly untangling himself from Sparx. He shifted down to the edge of the bed, sat up and stretched.

Sparxon stirred, rolling onto his back and rubbing his tired, pretty eyes. "Mommy?"

"Hi, sweetie." I cooed, sitting on the mattress beside him, petting his hair. "Did your dad keep you up with his stories again?"

Sparky giggled and climbed into my lap. He stood on my thighs, curling his hands into my hair.

"Dad sleep'd first." He whispered, and the two of us giggled together.

Jak looked over his shoulder at us. "I did not."

Sparx laughed. "You _did_." His eyes met mine. "Mommy? Dagny comin' to play today?"

I smiled. "You mean tomorrow." Sparky nodded, pulling at my curls gently. "Yes, Dagny is coming tomorrow. Aunt Tessie and Torn are bringing him and Tara by."

My son's eyes lit up, little bolts of violet electricity dancing across their whites. "Tara." He stated with a smile.

Jak cleared his throat loudly, and I glanced at him. He blinked wildly. " _Tara's_ coming?"

I winked his way. "Yup."

He groaned as he got up from the bed. "And so it begins..."

Sparx and I locked eyes and he stroked my hair. "Uh oh. Mommy's in trouble."

"No..." I blushed, and my eyes flickered to Jak. He mimicked my wink, then waved at Sparxon before exiting the room.

I laid my son down on his bed, tucking him under the blankets Tess knitted for him before we moved to Kras. He giggled and squirmed, cuddling into the pillow and pulling his stuffed lurker shark out from beneath it. I leaned forward and we nuzzled noses before I said goodnight to him.

"Mama?" He asked softly as I flicked off the light.

"Baby?" I smiled at him in the darkness.

"Don't be sad."

My brow furrowed, the doorknob twisting in my grip. "I'm not sad."

The hall light reflected in his eyes as they slowly blinked. "You are."

"What makes you think so?"

His eyes closed as he squeezed his lurker shark tightly to his face. "You know. So, _me_ know."

"Uh..." I stared at my son, his face so relaxed and content, despite his confusing statement. My lips pressed into a thin line, "Hmm."

"Love my Mommy," he said.

"Love you more, Sparky." I smiled, closing the door until it was only slightly ajar.

I stood outside the door of my boy's bedroom, baffled by his words. He was such a normal little boy, no smarter or braver or faster than the average toddler. Sure, he had powers that Jak and I had only begun to scratch the surface of, things we'd soon have to teach him to control. Other than that, he was truly an ordinary child.

But I also knew better than to fully accept that he was ordinary. Sparxon had a complex mind. He thought first, when other children acted. And you could tell just by looking at him that there were things in his head. I hoped he didn't have a voice in his mind- a demon- like I did. I didn't think he would. But he knew things...I didn't know _what_ exactly he knew, yet there was something, just an air or aura about him that made you feel that he was simply _aware_ of all things. He was a bit of an old soul, an empath, and he had abilities beyond our imaginations. Of course, he would be different than other kids- I knew that. But...the way he spoke so...cryptically...

I finally released my death grip on the doorknob with a loud exhale. _I'll ask him about it some day._ I started down the hall towards mine and Jak's room, dragging my hands down my face.

 _I can't worry about it now._ I thought to myself. _He's good. We're all good._

 _ **Then why**_ **are** _ **you sad?**_

I stared down at my open palms, pausing outside my bedroom door.

 _Because I know "good" isn't going to last much longer._

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 **A/N:**

A preview for what is to come! Hope you all enjoyed and were surprised by this extremely sooner-than-expected update. I wanted to give you guys a little something for the holiday season.

Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving- may the Precursors bless you with reasons to give thanks!

 _~RyJones_


	2. And So It Begins

**A/N:**

And so it begins...

Hey guys, RyJo here!

Man, I just love the Jak series. From being an age of single digits, to a grown adult in her mid-20's, my dedication to those games is unwavering. I used to think I'd eventually "grow up" and stop being a total nerd...but, oh boy. At this rate, staying a total nerd is inevitable. That's a good thing though, because my imagination is unlimited and ready for use.

I'll quit my rambling so you guys can get on with reading about our favorite heroes.

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 _Jak_.

"Can you at least tell me what's going to happen?"

"No, Jak. God no. Telling you is even worse than acting on it. Do you know how many people could die as a result of me opening my mouth?"

"Darla, don't be so dramatic-"

" _Dramatic_? I'm _dramatic_?" My wife huffed in frustration and stood at the living room window. "You and I both know that's a lie. I am as serious as they come, Jak Mar."

I pouted impulsively and stared down at my boots. Sometimes I spat words that I didn't mean and it pissed her off...but I couldn't help the way I felt.

"Darla," I approached cautiously in an attempt to not feel her wrath. I gently touched her shoulder. "I understand the importance of keeping some visions to yourself. But you're scaring me. You're kind of freaking me out."

"Imagine how _I_ feel," she turned around, her hands flying to her chest as tears sprung in her eyes. This surprised me, because my Darla was tough as nails and barely ever cried these days. "I have all these...these _things_ in my head. These images of a future I cannot prevent. I've analyzed every possibly angle, I've stayed awake at night thinking and trying so hard to figure another way around this path. But I can't. Do you know how scary that is? To know ahead, and have no control over the results?"

I pulled her by her arm and wrapped my own around her. She curled into my embrace, inhaling and exhaling shakily.

"Love," I said warily, "listen to me," I pressed my cheek to the top of her head. "I'm sorry for prying. We'll get through this. We can handle anything."

She sighed heavily. "I know, Jak. And I'm sorry I get snippy. I'm sorry I can't tell you everything I see. I know it's frustrating and terrifying and-"

I dipped my head down, silencing her words with my mouth. My hands went to her hips and I felt her smile as she blinked up at me.

She released my mouth with a pop, lifting an eyebrow. "You can't solve _every_ problem with your lips, hotshot."

I grinned sheepishly and leaned forward to kiss her again, when the bathroom door down the hall opened. The two of us gingerly peeked over in that direction just as my almost-three year old son stepped out, wearing nothing but a t-shirt, bare ass flapping in the wind.

I stepped around Darla and followed Sparxon down the hall. "Hey, buddy...?" My spunky kid spun around and I knelt down to him. "Where's your pants?"

Sparky flashed me a dimpled smile. "Don't need 'em!"

I glanced over my shoulder at my wife, who was stifling a laugh. "Buddy," I said cautiously, "Dagny and Tara are coming over, remember?"

Sparxon's indigo eyes flew open, and he jumped and sped down the hall to his room. "I _need_ pants!"

I waited until he slammed his door shut before I cracked up. I stood and sidled over to D. "His memory is really not all there, is it?" I asked as I took her in my arms again.

She rolled her eyes. "He takes after his Uncle Dax in that regard. But at least he's potty trained."

I nodded, "I can't say the same for Daxter."

We both laughed and I swiftly kissed her before heading down to my son's room to help him get ready.

Upon entering, I saw him on his bed, struggling to tug on a clean shirt, his cargo shorts unbuttoned around his ankles. I migrated over to him and sat on the mattress, helping his arms through the short sleeves.

"Did you brush your teeth?" I asked him as his head popped through the neck hole. I smiled at the front of his shirt- it had the blue, shining image of a Precursor, above it the word "blessed". It was supposed to be funny, but it was also funny because it was totally true.

"Yup."

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Yup."

"Clean your boots after being in the rain yesterday?"

Sparxon's eyes widened for the second time. "Oh no!"

I laughed. "I'll take care of it. We don't want dirty shoes in the house."

"Princess Tara likes dirt." Sparxon crossed his arms somewhat defiantly, then he hopped off the bed.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "Princess Tara's parents don't know she likes dirt."

My son handed me his boots, the laces dragging along the floor. He lifted them up to me with his tiny hands, then ran out of his room to get a wet rag.

I sighed, staring down at the small combat boots in my hands. I never thought I'd be here- having a relatively settled-down life, with my best friend and wife, and our kid running around happy as can be. I never thought the heroism would ever come to a stop, but it seemed as though the Precursors and their fates and destinies had taken a bit of a vacation. The world didn't need me all that much right now, and honestly, I was happy about that. Sure, I missed adventures with Dax, and I missed the travel and the wins, being a champion...but the losses and the anxiety and fear of failing everyone outweighed the adrenaline and excitement that came with it. I needed a break, and I needed a world that was safe enough for my son to grow in.

Sparx came back in and handed me the rag to wipe his shoes down. He sat onto the floor and I smiled down at him.

Out of nowhere, I had a flashback to being in prison. I'd thought about it several times in the last few years. It was like I had suppressed the memories and the trauma of being tortured and finally, now that my life had calmed a bit, the memories were surfacing. I often thought about how it was, being in there, where I held on with everything I had and held on to what gave me life just to keep myself going. But for a while, I really thought I was going to die. I really thought that I'd never see my loved ones again, never get a chance to be with Darla and explore our relationship. I sure as hell never thought we'd be married with a kid living in a shore-side apartment in a city I'd never really heard of. It's funny how life works out like that...especially after you expected to waste away in a prison cell.

Sparxon climbed up beside me then and scrambled into my lap, causing me to drop his clean boots onto the floor. His arms went around my neck and he squeezed.

"You okay, kid?" I asked, rubbing his back. I appreciated the gesture, but the way he was holding me made me feel as though he were being...sympathetic.

He nodded against my head, rubbing his face to mine. "Pop?"

I leaned my face into his messy blonde hair, breathing him in. "Hmm?"

He sighed quietly. "You're my very best friend."

My heart skipped a beat. "Really?" I asked, leaning back to look at him.

"Yeah." He smiled, but there was a sadness behind it. I tucked a loose curl behind his ear and pecked him on the forehead.

"You're my very best friend too, Sparky."

His arms went around me again and he rested his head on my shoulder.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell Dagny. He's my best friend, too."

I laughed and shook my head. "I won't tell Dagny if you don't tell your Uncle Daxter."

"Deal."

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Darla_.

I opened the door and the most beautiful little redheaded girl flung her arms around my leg. I scooped her up into my arms, her long, flowing burgundy ringlets bouncing as I lifted her. Her cerulean, crystal blue eyes bore into mine as she smiled at me sweetly.

"DD," She squealed, calling me by the name she'd given me when she first started speaking.

"Hiya, T." I kissed her on the cheek. "Where's your dad?"

"Coming up." She wiggled out of my arms onto the floor. "Dagny is sleeping on his shoulder."

I rolled my eyes and watched the door. "What a surprise..."

"The cavalry has arrived!"

Tess came scampering in on all fours, her furry little self scrambling up my boots, my pant leg and onto my shoulder.

I shushed her almost immediately. "Keep it down, Tessie. He's still here."

She covered her mouth with an "oops" and giggled. "Sorry. Well, Torn has the car parked out front for when you're ready to leave."

Torn finally came into the apartment, grimacing as per usual. "Can someone get this sleeping rat off my shoulder?"

I snickered, reaching for the one-foot-tall little drooling ottsel slumped over Torn's shoulder. He jumped awake in my hands and squealed frightfully, gripping his leather cap to his head.

"MOM!" He yelped, his spiked blonde hair sticking out from under his cap, making him look crazed.

"Right here, sweetie." Tess said from my shoulder and his darting eyes found her. He relaxed in my hands and I scratched behind his ear.

"Hi Aunt D," he said with a yawn, curling up in my palm.

"Uh-uh," Tess leaned forward and snapped the leather band on his cap, making him cry out. "Wake up. You're here to play with your friends!" She gestured for him to get out of my hands and followed him to the floor. "If you're so tired, you shouldn't be up late at night playing video games with your father!"

"Where is Daxter anyway?" Jak said from down the hall, placing my boy on the floor so he could run to his friends. The three of them began jumping around each other, laughing as they went sprinting around the couch. Jak smiled, coming over to me and kissing me on the cheek.

"We dropped him off at the garage on the way here," Torn said, crossing his arms as he watched his daughter with eagle eyes while she chased my son down the hall, Dagny bounding after them. "Keira is having a really hard time with tinkering, especially since she's the size of a whale right now."

I shoved Torn back and he tried to hide his smile. "Don't be an asshole." I scolded.

"I'd better get over there then," Jak said with a heavy sigh, "As good as he is with putting things together, Daxter has no sense of direction whatsoever."

Torn clapped a hand on Jak's shoulder, subtly trying to usher him out the door. "No need to stall then. We'll see you tonight in Haven for the big celebration?"

Jak stopped at the door and groaned loudly up at the ceiling, "I forgot about that."

Tess huffed. "How do you forget an annual event based on the day Haven City was finally free from all enemies?"

He turned back around and we locked eyes. I crossed my arms, indicating I was not going to let him skip this. "Jak."

He pouted, his brow furrowing. "I just hate that people tend to make it about _me_. And then they swarm our kid, try to take photos and get autographs and blah, blah, bl-"

"Oh poor you," Torn scoffed, his hoarse voice cracking, "the hero gets rewarded for being a hero. Stop your damn, humble _whining_."

Jak glared at Torn, then softened as I reached for his hand. He smiled sweetly, his shoulders relaxing. "Fine. What are we wearing?"

"We'll figure it out later," I swiftly kissed him on the mouth, pushing him out the door, "Off you go, I love you, buh-bye now, give Keira a kiss for me!"

Before he could respond, I closed the front door and spun around to face Torn.

Torn was shaking his head, staring at me with big blue eyes. "I thought he'd never leave."

"Tess," I said, addressing my girlfriend on the floor, "you'll be okay watching the kids and taking them over to Haven later?"

She made a _psh_ sound and waved her hand nonchalantly. "Honey, I've got two boys at home, I run five different gun courses across three cities, and I am the size of a small child. I can handle three kids."

I blew her a kiss. "You're a lifesaver." I leaned over and peered down the hall. "Sparky! Mommy's leaving!"

My boy came happily buzzing down the hall, violet sparks zapping out from all parts of him. I bent down as he jumped into my arms, making the hairs on them stick up from his static.

"Love my mommy." He said, placing his hands on my cheeks.

I took one off and kissed it. "You'll be good for Aunt Tess while I'm gone? You'll play nice with the others, and do as Aunt Tess says?"

Sparxon nodded, his indigo eyes flashing onyx briefly, electric bolts sparkling across them. "Yes, mommy."

I sighed and kissed his head. "Good. Behave." I moved to release him but he grabbed my face again, making me look at him.

"You be careful. No trouble." His eyes bore into mine with such intensity, I almost felt as though I _were_ in trouble. I felt guilty, knowing where I was going and what I was doing was far from safe, and as usual it seemed like Sparky knew exactly what was going on.

Which, of course, was impossible.

I smiled at him and stood. "No trouble."

He looked at me skeptically, then sprinted back down the hall to his room at a speed that was almost inhuman.

I turned back to Torn. "Ready to roll?"

"After you, D." He opened the front door and gestured for me to take the lead.

I waved to Tess as we exited, "Thanks again, sweetie. See you tonight!" She blew us each a kiss as I shut the door behind us.

Torn and I hurried down the stairwell and out the apartment building doors. The car was a nice, larger model of the Sand Shark I'd come to often drive in Spargus City over the years. To my surprise, my best friend Maichael was sitting in the backseat.

I gasped happily and leaned over the door to give him a kiss. "I didn't know you'd be coming!"

He winked one of his big, brown crocadog eyes at me and patted a black duffle bag beside him. "Torn said you might need some muscle to back you up."

"What toys from Tess's armory did you bring along?" I asked as I slid into the front passenger seat. I tapped my boot with my hand, making sure my dagger was there, ready for use if necessary. "I promised my son I wouldn't get into any trouble."

Torn peeled out of the parking lot and onto the busy street without so much as a glance. "Hopefully we won't have any trouble. We're just going there to talk."

"I've got a blaster mod, vulcan attachment, scatter body with a scope..." Maichael counted, ticking his fingers as he went on, "one grenade launcher, one Peacemaker attachment, some new blue eco-infused laser gun-"

"Jesus, Maichael, are we prepping for a war?" I snorted as I buckled my seat belt. "It's just a meeting. It should be civilized like an other discussion between people in power."

"And we all know how _well_ that usually goes." Maichael said sarcastically. "Come on, D, you said it yourself. These guys are dangerous and we need to settle this shit before a war breaks out."

"Leave it to Krew to screw us all even in death." Torn remarked, hands gripping the steering wheel. "He's been gone for years now and he's still causing a shitload of trouble."

"Krew was a crime lord, Torn." I said, "He was involved with theft, gangs, drugs, the lurker slave-trade, prostitution..." I made a sound of disgust. "Not to mention, he was a fat useless fuck. We tried to work with him, to use him to get to the Baron, but he was no help. Now our dirty work from the war against Praxis is biting us in the ass."

"Yeah, well, hopefully we can come to some kind of agreement with these psychopaths." Torn grumbled, flipping off someone who almost clipped us in the left lane. "They'll probably want money. Or some kind of deal. They could have the key to Haven City for all I care. I just want the baddies to stop."

"Torn, Haven is _your_ city." I said, rolling my eyes, "Give them the key, and you and the girls will have to move to Spargus."

"You know what I mean." Torn snapped, "It won't come down to that. I won't let it. Haven needs to be a safe place for my daughter to grow. Tara needs a good home. Besides," the corners of his mouth lifted in a smirk, "You've seen Ash's hair in the desert heat."

The three of us laughed, and I leaned back in my seat, enjoying the breeze on this beautiful-yet nerve-wracking sunny day.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Jak_.

"Keira, I don't feel anything."

"Just...wait."

I waited like I had the past fifteen minutes, my hand resting on the top of Keira's protruding, pregnant belly. I watched her glowing face skeptically, the sounds of Daxter tinkering around in Keira's new model, the Dragonfly, echoing throughout the garage.

Keira grumbled then, releasing my hand. "I swear she was just kicking, like, thirty seconds ago."

I shrugged sheepishly and went back over to Daxter. "Sorry, Keira. Looks like Penella Kazzi answers to know one."

Keira mumbled to herself, plopping down into a chair beside her new vehicle. "You talk about your goddaughter as if she's already here."

Dax's hand was outstretched, waiting for the wrench I had been holding, and I placed it into his open palm. "That's because I can already tell she's going to be a total sass-machine like her mom."

Keira flashed me her middle finger. "She'll be _lucky_."

"I can't argue with that," I examined a scuff on one of the headlights. "What happened here?"

Keira leaned forward as much as her nine-month belly would allow. "Well, let's just say I had to fire one of the guys."

I straightened up, frowning. "Which one? No, wait," I held up my hand, "Don't tell me, let me guess. Edje? Or was it Shiv?"

Keira bit her lip, avoiding my gaze and looking at her hands. "Well, let's just say I had to fire _two_ of the guys..."

" _Both_ of them?" I face-palmed, groaning, "What the fuck, Keira? We barely have enough racers _left_ to even call ourselves a team. Now you fire two of our best guys?"

Keira's face flushed red and I knew then that I'd be hearing an earful. She struggled to get to her feet, prepping to turn on the sass I knew so well. I helped her up, setting myself up for the beast within.

"They weren't our _best_ guys," She began, jabbing me in the chest with her finger, "they were _shitty_ guys. They were good racers, but that's all they were. Did you know they were 'testing out' the new cars? Did you know they were taking them for joyrides and charging gang members so they could take them for a spin?"

"This is...news to me." I felt my blood begin to boil at the thought of being lied to, and I shook my head, trying to ignore the darkest side of me rising up.

"Yeah!" Daxter shouted from inside the Dragonfly, "And the reason Keira found out was because _I_ caught them!"

"He 'caught them' meaning he fell asleep under the backseat, and Shiv and Edje didn't notice him once they left with the car," Keira smirked slightly as Dax's head popped from under the hood.

"For your information, _toots_ ," he shot her daggers with his eyes, "I needed my beauty sleep. Dagny and I got this new game and we've been playing it non-stop. Plus, Tess and I have sex, like, four thousand times a day. It's _exhausting_ being me."

"Video games _and_ sex? Poor you." I slapped the back of his head and he rubbed the spot, getting back to work.

"Yeah, well, I caught the two idiots didn't I?" He said. "Now we can start fresh. We need a good, _clean_ team."

"Have you thought about racing again, Jak?" Keira asked me then. "I know you stopped because of Sparky."

"I really stopped because of all the bullshit with the gangs that built up over time." I sighed, leaning against the wall. "The glory, the money, the thrill- sure, it was all fun, extremely exciting and fulfilling...until it started getting deadly. Now it's all about power, greed, the kill. People didn't _die_ in races when we first opened up shop in Kras. Look how the city has changed."

"You're right," Keira closed her emerald eyes, leaning on the wall beside me. "Nothing is ever simply 'fun' anymore."

"If I'm being perfectly honest," I said, feeling solemness wash over me, "I think I'm really done racing. For good. It probably won't get any better, any safer. I wouldn't race again unless- for some reason- I really, _really_ had to."

"Understandable. And I agree." Keira gazed at me sadly, rubbing her ready-to-pop belly. "Things were so much easier when we were all kids enjoying life in Sandover. Things were _safer_ back then. Now we can't even let our own kids play in the street, even back home in Haven City. I'm afraid of bringing my first baby into this dark and sinister world. Where will Penny play?"

"Yeah, things were simpler in Sandover." I nodded. "I would've loved for our kids to grow up in our little village. Imagine Dag, Sparky and P, the best of friends playing on the same beach we played on when we were kids."

Keira's eyes welled up. "That would've been perfect. I mean, things wouldn't have worked out the way they did, had we not come to the future in the first place- where we actually _belonged_."

"Things worked out for the best, you guys." Daxter sat on the edge of the hood, dangling his feet over the side and gripping his wrench in both hands. "Besides, Sandover wasn't all that safe anyway. The kids would've played on the cliffs and jumped into the ocean like we did the day before we used the Rift Gate. That was kind of dangerous, and I barely knew how to swim."

Keira and I looked at each other and she shrugged. "The beach _did_ always have those sand serpents lurking around in the dunes."

I laughed. "Plus there was a _wicked-_ scary jungle next door, with man-eating creatures waiting to kill us."

"Not to mention the lurker sharks buzzing about the ocean!" Daxter waved the wrench in my direction.

Keira smiled, "Misty Island? All the dark eco pools festering in the neighboring towns? _Fire Canyon?_ "

"And the unpredictable, ancient Precursor technology that always got Jak and I into trouble?" Daxter hopped to his feet, "The _very same technology_ that blasted me into a pit of dark eco and turned me into an ottsel?"

The three of us burst out laughing, and my stomach hurt from the heavy fit. I leaned forward on my knees, shaking my head.

"You're right, Dax." I wiped my watering eyes. "You're so right. The kids are better off here. We're _all_ better off here."

"Well, I agree with what my father said way back then," Keira shrugged between giggle fits, "I still think Dax turning into a rodent was an improvement." She gasped suddenly, her eyes blinking in surprise. "You guys! P is kicking again!"

Daxter scrambled up my arm and we both put our hands on Keira's stomach. I looked up at her expectantly, figuring it wouldn't happen again...

"Oh!" I gasped in surprise, feeling the roll of some strange alien creature beneath my palm. "There's Penny." I chuckled.

Daxter's cheek was pressed against the spot near my hands, his face very close to Keira's boobs. "I can feel her kicking me in the head!"

Keira snorted and rolled her eyes. "Then I'm raising her right if she's already kicking ass." She smiled at me and shook her head.

It was exciting to know Sparky's new friend Penella was going to arrive soon. To think, my two best friends since the very beginning and I had kids of our own now...and _they_ soon would be best friends from the beginning as well. Dag was already riding on Sparx's shoulders as they ran around the house, just as Daxter rode on mine all these years. They were the spitting images of us. Which meant...they'd probably get into a _world_ of trouble like us as well.

 _A legacy is a legacy, no matter how much trouble the kids will cause._ I thought to myself.

"Do you think P and Dag will get married some day?" Daxter asked dreamily. Keira tore him from her torso, and dropped him onto the floor.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Darla_.

I looked casual as I leaned back in my seat, but I had my dagger in reach, a pistol attached to my hip and my demon side ready to unleash in case something went wrong.

It was one of those situations where everything could go according to plan, or just completely go to shit. And this guy, Razer, with his fake black hair, velvet red coat and _hideous_ accent, seemed to be the ring leader of this particular group of thugs.

"I don't think we can agree on your terms, Razer." Torn argued, his voice raising as he got increasingly agitated. I was surprised he'd held out for as long as he had, considering I was properly ready to end these individuals' miserable lives. "I also don't have time for _bullshit_. How do we know you'll keep your end of the bargain?"

"Then there's no deal!" One of Razer's men banged on the desk with his fist. "Give us Krew's team, _and_ his connections to the cartel over in Haven. Mizo gets what he wants, or there will be blood."

I leaned forward, letting the tips of my fangs slip down past my lips. "Don't get your panties in a bunch, sweetheart. You don't know who you're messing with. Besides, we don't have the rights to Krew's team; someone else was given ownership, paperwork and all. That's out of our hands."

"We can't accept-"

I whipped my dagger out and jammed it into the desk, towering over Razer and his cronies, startling them all into silence. Electric bolts licked out from my skin, causing all of them to lean back in their seats.

" _We did you a favor._ " I growled, "We paid off the debt owed to you. Now _your_ job is to clean the fucking streets. Now _you_ owe _us_."

Razer slowly stood, flattening his greasy hair. "My _word_. No need to get...feisty." He snickered, but his thugs remained silent. "We'll hold up our end of the deal...but we won't be able to stop the underground gambling, especially now with the Kras City Grand Championship coming up. We may not have Krew's racing rights," He eyed Maichael, Torn and I each, "but we _will_ still win the grand prize."

I dug a chunk of wood out of the desk and flicked it at one of the thugs' faces. "We don't give a shit about your race. Just keep the crime to a minimum, and Spargus, Haven, and my Freedom Force won't have to step in."

"Is that a threat, Mrs. Mar?"

"Yeah, actually." I slid my knife back into my boot. "I don't want more blood on my hands than there already is. If I have to kill someone to protect our families, I will."

Razer swallowed loudly, looking frightened for a moment before he recovered with a sneer. His reaction was enough to satisfy me.

"I know better than to mess with a bear and her cubs." He said oh-so-sweetly, leaning against the desk and covering the spot I dug out with his black-gloved hand.

"No messing around," I said, nodding to Torn and Maichael to indicate it was time to go, "Or a bear will be the very least of your problems."

The silence was deafening as we retreated out of Razer's office at his bar, the Bloody Hook. If it wasn't so early in the day, probably would've demanded a bottle, but I wanted us out of there as soon as possible.

Once the three of us were back in the car, Torn turned on the radio, the channel playing some low, smooth rock music.

"So it's going to be war then?" Torn said as we drove along the coast, the sun sparkling over the sea. "There's no chance in hell those fuckheads are going to heed our warnings."

"Yeah, the inevitable approaches." I stated flatly, as countless visions of the future that was coming blinded me momentarily. "Everything's going to suck for a while, you guys. Royally suck."

"But we'll make it out okay, right D?" Maichael leaned forward from the backseat between mine and Torn's shoulders.

"I think so."

"That's goddamn reassuring, Darla." Torn said huskily.

"What do you want me to say, Torn?" I turned in my seat and Maichael shrunk back. "That Krew fucked us over so badly, our lives are going to be put on the line? That our _kids'_ lives are on the line? That our loyalties to one another are about to be tested?"

"Well, yeah," Torn's eyes widened, "I'd like _some_ warning."

"There you go. That's your warning."

Torn slid down in his seat. "Listen, I know we'll be okay. I know where my loyalties lie. You're all my family. If it's us against them- whoever 'they' will be- there's no splitting us up."

Maichael came forward again. "We just need to be prepared for whatever comes our way. There's going to be a war between crime lords- Krew and this Mizo guy. And with this big race championship coming up, lawbreakers are bound to crawl out from whatever holes they're hiding in. We just need constant vigilance, and we'll definitely need to stay off the streets at night."

"Not that it's much safer, but you, Jak and Junior can come back to Haven City until shit cools down," Torn suggested. "There's plenty of room at the new palace. Obviously."

"Thanks, Torn." I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to shake away the confusing visions. "But I need to stay here. I need to lead my Force if a war breaks out. Besides, no one can push me out of my own home, especially not some little bitch like Razer." I shook my head in distaste. "What the fuck kind of accent is that anyway? French?"

"I think it's called 'shit-for-brains'." Maichael muttered, earning laughter from the front seat.

"All I know is that we need to win." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "Whatever happens, we _need_ to win."

"Is it life or death?" Maichael asked.

"Yep." I turned up the radio to drown out my darker, more negative thoughts. "How much longer until we reach Spargus? Jak, Sparky and I usually organize a Hellcat to transport us there. I think they'll be setting up portals around the city in the next month or so at least."

"About time they upgraded. It should take us about two hours to arrive, depending on traffic." Torn said with a heavy sigh. "Also depends on whether or not there's a sandstorm. We can't drive if the roads are blocked by that shit."

"King Sig is expecting us to stay for dinner before we all head to Haven for the celebration," Maichael said, "I wonder if he'll start crying again."

"He just misses all of us, Maichael." I rolled my eyes. "And you calling him 'King Sig' doesn't make it anymore real."

Maichael grunted. "I have respect for my buddy. He's a leader. I don't want him to think we don't take him seriously, because we do."

"It's hard to take him seriously when he cries so much."

Our banter continued on like this for the rest of the ride to Spargus. As much as I wanted to relax, I couldn't stop my mind from whirling into all the possibilities of tomorrow. I was terrified, yet I wasn't, all at the same time. I knew we'd be okay, but I just wanted the nice, two year break we'd all had from the action to continue. I'd known a long time that past mistakes would rear their ugly faces in the future. There was nothing I could do to stop some of these things.

And I also was _ready_ for action. As much as I loved downtime, safety and protection was my first priority. I missed getting into trouble. Maybe it was my demon talking, maybe it was my personal preference, maybe both. But I loved being right in the middle of where the adventure was.

I'd meant what I said to Razer- when it comes to the people I love, and the good of the world...I was something much, _much_ worse than a bear.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Jak_.

I came home in the afternoon to an empty house. I immediately panicked because I knew the girls, Torn and the kids were all supposed to be there so we could leave for Haven together. I tried to rationalize, thought maybe they'd all gone out to eat or something, but there was no message on my communicator. Darla always told me where she and Sparky were going, even if it was down the street.

I instantly knew something was up, if not _wrong_ , remembering that if Darla avoids my calls, she's usually doing something that would piss me off. She used to get into a lot of trouble, albeit for the right reasons, but it still scared the shit out of me. Plus, the kids were gone, and it was getting late. Kras at night was not a good place to be these days.

But it wasn't until I opened our mail from the box downstairs that I knew something was most definitely wrong.

The first letter I opened was sloppily written, addressed to my wife, and filled with threats against my family and friends. There was a letter addressed to me, calling me "Spargus City Shit" and "Bastard Desert Prince", saying that if they saw my "pet" at the Bloody Hook again, they'd skin him alive and hang his pelt over the bar. I'd told him time and time again to stay out of that shit hole, but he never listened.

The last letter was the only decent looking piece of mail: a red envelope sealed with a fancy wax brand, addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. Jak Mar". I saved this one for later, because it was the only one that didn't look like hate-mail.

I tossed the papers onto the counter and dialed Darla for the fiftieth time. I left a heated message, then proceeded to call Tess. Eventually, I'd been home for over _three_ _hours_ before I began to panic, and I called Daxter.

"Dax," I said, fuming, once he answered on the second try. "Where the _fuck_ are our wives?"

I heard Dax hiccup, and I knew he was tipsy. "Something about getting out of town...I dunno. I'm out. Want to swing by the Bloody Hook for a few shots?"

I dragged my hand down my face in exasperation. " _Christ_ , Dax, get out of there. I don't have time for this!"

"Lighten up, Jak!" His voice took a more serious tone. "What's gotten into you? So the girls are ignoring our calls. Is this really news?"

"You said something about getting out of town?" I said, hurrying down the hall to Sparxon's bedroom. As it appeared, it looked like his drawers had been messed with. I opened some of them, noticing a hell of a lot of clothes were gone. "Where the fuck would they go? Haven? And with no note-"

"HEY!" Daxter shouted into the phone, "Pass me that mic, it's almost time for your favorite storyteller to speak! HEY! HANDS OFF MY DRINK-"

The line cut and I snarled, my body shaking from anger. Not only did I have no idea where anyone was, but now I had to go get Daxter's drunken ass from the very bar his skin might _apparently_ hang from by the end of the night.

I probably would've been better off cooling down and taking a deep breath before getting in the car that afternoon, but I was too infuriated to do so. I began driving in the direction of the Bloody Hook, mumbling to myself the entire way about how I'd feel better if everyone had been eaten by metalhead stragglers.

That's when I stopped at a red light. Two cars pulled up on either side of me. Now, I'd think nothing of it, until I heard the revving of their engines. I looked to my right, seeing a jerk staring directly at me, who looked a lot like a marauder from back in the Wasteland with the mask that adorned his face. To my left, another asshole, grinning at me with a set of silver grills. I glanced between them as they revved again, and I knew at that moment they weren't just here by chance.

In a split second, I made the decision to fly through the red light to evade the fuckers, earning honks from surrounding cars. The thugs expected this, because they sped right on after me, guns blazing. I swerved across the road, heart racing as fast as I was driving, trying to escape their trail of bullets. I pressed a blinking red button on my dashboard, which then released slick oil out the back of my car.

The masked racer swerved out of control, his vehicle flipping several times forward in my general direction, while the other guy avoided my trail completely. I pressed another button, leaving a mine in my path, causing a car to explode in the way of the masked racer's rotation.

The evasive, silver-grill racer was hot on my heels. I floored the gas, aiming for the guardrail that protected drivers from the unforgiving ocean. I drove onward, teeth gritting as I timed everything accordingly. _Come on...come on..._

I swerved to the right at the last second, and the silver-grill driver went soaring through the guardrail into the sea. I did a complete one-eighty turn to avoid flipping, screeching to a halt in the front of a fountain near the square, which had emptied in all the commotion. My chest heaved as I panted, blowing out breaths of relief.

Until out from the smoke and fire, came the masked marauder, driving at me full-speed.

I gasped and peeled away, swerving to avoid collision, but this guy was right up my ass.

 _Think, Jak, think!_ I mentally shouted at myself. I headed in the direction of the Bloody Hook, trying to figure out some kind of way to escape this guy while he shot bullets at my tires from his turrets. I thought of something then...but it was crazy. Borderline insane. People could die.

But it was either me, or them.

And I chose me.

I aimed at the enormous front window of the Bloody Hook; this big, glass picture window that held a tank of an assortment of tropical fish. I was sweating in my denim jacket, adrenaline coursing through my veins. There was no way the guy behind me had big enough balls to follow me now. I pressed on the gas, holding the wheel steady, determined to not shy away from this game of chicken.

As we neared the window, the masked guy finally swerved down a side street, losing the game at the last minute. I smiled to myself, then closed my eyes as I braked, my car bursting through the aquarium window.

Glass shattered around me but I held my foot onto the brake, feeling the water pour into the interior of my car. I crashed through the bar and drifted across the floor, shaking out my now matted short hair.

I didn't waste any time putting the car into park and I lurched up from my seat, staring at my furry best friend cowering beneath a bar stool like the other citizens who had turned tail and hid.

"Dax, get in the car!" I growled as he gaped at me. He scurried out from under the stool and threw his beer stein to the floor in frustration.

" _JAK!_ " He screamed at the top of his lungs, "Are you _crazy?_ You ruined my story!"

I saw several burly guys, and a very wealthy-looking prick wielding a switchblade, slinking to their feet. I looked Daxter in the eyes sternly.

"Now!" I hissed, and the rich bitch flung the blade at Daxter, narrowly missing his head.

He yelped and scampered over to my car as I sat down, shifting the gear into drive. "What are you waiting for? Step on it, Jak!" He climbed onto the roof bars and clung for dear life, as I floored it out through the way I'd come and back onto the road.

As I broke all possible laws trying to get to the exit for the highway, Daxter let out a sigh of relief, sliding down into the passenger seat. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, still pissed as hell, but becoming increasingly grateful that I'd managed to get to him before something happened.

"I told you not to go out." I said, trying not to sound like the parent I was. "We're getting death threats, Dax. Someone doesn't want us here."

"You think?" His said through clenched teeth. "I say we pack our shit and take the next boat out of here!"

"Not a chance. It'll take more than just some sorry thugs to run us out of town." I smiled down at him, showing him that I wasn't afraid of anything, and as we neared the sharp exit, I shouted, "Hang on!"

"Jak!" Daxter shouted as he scrambled to buckle his seat belt.

Once I knew we were far enough away from Kras to coast at a safer speed, I leaned back in my seat. "I was almost killed tonight by these two assholes with cars tricked out like ours. They were racers for sure."

"What else is new?" Daxter said, staring out at the sun as it finally sank into the sea. "Glad you're not dead though. I don't know what would've happened if you didn't show up at Bloody Hook."

"A storm is brewing in Kras." I let my hand fall from the gearshift to my thigh. "We should probably just hang out in Haven until things die down, since we're supposed to head there anyway. Did the girls say where they were going exactly? I thought we were all supposed to go together, but now I'm not so sure."

Daxter shrugged, closing his eyes as his ears flapped in the cool breeze. "I don't know about Darla, but the ol' ball and chain called me to let me know she took the kids to the Naughty Ottsel. They must be setting up for the party."

"Torn wasn't with her?"

"She didn't say, but I didn't hear his scratching-post voice chirping away, so I assume he wasn't."

I growled lowly. "He must be with Darla. I can't find her anywhere. I've called about a thousand times."

"Relax, man." He turned in his seat, resting his legs on the compartment between us. "D can handle her own. I wouldn't worry too much. You know she doesn't just do things without reason."

"That's what I'm afraid of." I rolled my eyes. We headed through a tunnel, the bright lights within it making me rapidly blink. "Hopefully everyone's in Haven by now and far from Kras. We need to lay low. I don't want anyone in danger, especially not the kids."

Daxter sighed heavily, resting his arms on his stomach. "We've been through worse pal. So much worse."

I nodded. We could handle whatever was coming. I knew that for sure. What I didn't know was what to expect. All I wanted was to not have it worry about the people I loved getting killed. I guess I should've known better than to expect a calmer lifestyle, what with the Precursors telling me there were "way more adventures" in the future.

My knuckles on my left fist whitened as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

 _And so it begins._

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

* * *

 **A/N:**

Well, well, well. How's that for a twist on the introduction to _Jak X: Combat Racing_? I have to say, I know that game was a different adventure than the others, but it was definitely one of my favorites. I was particularly good at it, plus the storyline was just as clever, mysterious and exciting as the others. And Keira and Jak finally kissed at the end of it, which was perfection.

I'd love to see more of the Jak world sometime in the future. The series needs to be redeemed after the shit show that was _Jak IV: The Lost Frontier_. Don't worry; I'll be modifying that story into a FanFic that helps the game seem not so bad. The story content had potential, but the execution was god-awful, so I'm going to make you all a better version once MTLH Part 4 is in progress (wow, part 4...can't believe we're 1/3 of the way there).

But for now, my focus is on Part 3, because without a 3 there is no 4.

Stay tuned for the next update! Love you all.

 _~RyJo_


	3. Excuses

**A/N:**

Back with the next chapter! My schedule is so erratic, what with working in law, becoming a full-time author, and trying to sleep in between all the excitement. My book is launching some time this fall (according to my manager & publisher) so things have really been escalating. But it's SO NICE to actually be ahead with my work and be able to take the time to update my FanFic!

So, onward with our story.

* * *

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Jak_.

The streets of Haven City were exactly the same as when I left them last—for the first time, _not_ in shambles. The Port was alive with chaos, but not the kind I'd been accustomed to for the majority of my adult life. It was the kind of chaos you wanted to be a part of; colorful, loud with music, boisterous smiles and celebration. Children were running and playing and shouting with one another outside the shops and local establishments on this one night per year that it was safe enough to do so, and it was a sight to see. I almost smiled, but the situation at hand had me too rattled to allow it to grow any larger than a crooked smirk.

Victory Day was our annual celebration of the day we won the war against the Dark Makers and Erol. People from all cities, or distant countries, citizens from places I'd never even been, would gather in Haven City to celebrate. Spargus typically had a huge party as well—usually it was a vibrant parade through the beaches, and a reenactment of the Battle for Spargus—but Haven City always hosted. Ashelin, being Commander in Chief of her city, had planned it each year. She managed to control it in such a way that, despite the increased crime rate, and newer dangers of people fighting their own people, Victory Day was always a day of peace. She made it so the kids could come out and play, and exist in the world. Because back in our day, it was too unsafe for there to be children at all.

All I wanted was a world that was safe for my son. All I wanted was for him to be like how these children were right now, playing without fear, without worry. Sparxon worried. I saw it in his eyes. He was already different than the other children. He had the personality, the gaze of someone who had seen to much, though Darla and I made it a mission that he saw nothing at all. If I could protect him from the darkness of this world, I'd do it. But my goal was to fix it before he truly had the chance to see how dark it really was.

We approached the Naughty Ottsel, and I ducked through the swarms of people. Daxter's grip on my hair tightened, for moral support or in fear of being knocked off of my shoulder, I wasn't sure. On the ride over, he desperately tried to get me to relax, because the more I thought about Darla and my kid disappearing on me with no warning, the angrier I became. And the angrier I became, the faster I drove. And Dax didn't like that much.

The sky darkened as I stormed up to the bar. I glanced up at the roof and saw Jinx and his crew setting up for the fireworks, and I gave them a brisk wave as they called down to me.

"Jakie-boy!" Jinx shouted, drawing attention to me immediately. Several citizens nearby started whispering my name excitedly, and I pleaded the Precursors to keep them away while I was this heated.

"Jinx." I forced a smile. "My wife inside?"

He leaned over the edge of the building, ash from the cigar between his lips raining down to the ground. "Yeah, she just walked in. All golden and sun-kissed from her meeting with the Sand King. You getting lucky on your big day?"

The forced smile fell. "What meeting?"

Jinx chuckled and returned to his crew, likely pleased with the fact that he knew something I didn't.

I mumbled in agitation, earning a pat on the head from Dax.

"Don't sweat it, pal," he said, smiling warmly, "Remember, D doesn't do shit without reason."

"She also does a lot of shit without telling _me_." I shook my head and pushed my way into the bar.

I was greeted by strangers and friends alike, my presence officially known the moment I entered the Naughty Ottsel. I smiled at familiar and unfamiliar faces, earning claps on the back, cups of unknown, murky liquids shoved into my hands, and kisses from unsuspecting men and women on my cheeks. I made my way to the back of the bar, handing random people the alcoholic beverages I'd received, and finally located the group of people I cared most for on the planet.

"The man of honor!" Tess shouted from Torn's shoulder, arms open wide.

"I'm here, baby." Daxter rumbled lowly with a grin, hopping onto the bar. He took her hand, pulling her off of Torn. He swooped her into his arms and spun her around, planting a fat one on her lips.

"Dad!" Dagny squealed from the end of the bar, where he was speaking with Tara, who had to stand on her tiptoes to even see him. He scampered over on all fours and leapt into Daxter's arms.

"My spawn!" Dax kissed his son's capped head, wrapping his lanky arms around his wife and kid. "Did you guys have a good Victory Day?"

While they had their little reunion, I turned to Torn, who smirked at me like he had a dirty secret. Or, he was drunk off the two cups of alcohol in each of his hands.

"Where is she?" I growled, heat flaring up in my chest.

Torn shrugged, his smug smile widening. "Dunno. Around here somewhere. Why? Is something wrong?" He oozed sarcasm.

My nostrils flared unintentionally as I felt my blood pressure rise. "Torn, I'm not in the mood for—"

"Da!"

I knew that voice anywhere. I looked down in time to see my son's tiny arms around my thigh, face buried in my jeans as he squeezed his hardest. All the fury and anxiety faded the minute I saw his blonde little head, and I lifted him up beneath his arms.

"Da," Sparxon grinned at me, indigo eyes glittering in the bar lights. "You're late."

"I'm not late," I grinned back at him, ruffling his spiky, gold locks and kissing his head.

He raised his eyebrows skeptically at me, as if he were the adult and I was the child. He looked just like his mother when he did that.

I rolled my eyes at him. I straightened his button-down, sky-blue dress shirt, admiring his brown suspenders and jeans Tess had bought him when she went shopping once. He looked like a little stud.

I tapped his nose. "Don't start with me, boy. Where's Mommy?"

His smile fell. "Why?"

"Because I want to see her." _Why is he asking for a reason?_

He shrugged. "Bad idea, Pop."

I frowned. "Why?"

He avoided my gaze, his small hands patting my chest. He fiddled with a button on my denim jacket.

"Because," he said, his eyes darting up to mine, "I know what you think. Don't be mad."

"I'm…not." I swallowed, leaning back to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"You are." His thin eyebrows lowered, "Mommy does good. Okay?"

My throat tightened, unsure of what to make of this. How could he know how I felt in this exact moment? He was always an intuitive, brilliant child, but there was no way he could've known the reason I was looking for Darla.

Perhaps she had told him what was going on, kept him in the loop. That made the most sense. But…then why keep me out of that loop?

"Okay, Daddy?"

I blinked. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

He smiled mischievously and touched my forehead with his first finger, immediately zapping me. I yelped in surprise—albeit over-dramatically for his own amusement—and he giggled, hugging me around the neck.

His joyful demeanor returned as quickly as it had disappeared, and he squirmed in my arms to get down. I placed him on the floor and he ran over to where Maichael had lifted Tara onto a bar stool. I watched him go, a strong sense of unease washing over me.

"He's a weird kid." Torn slurred, drawing my attention to him. "Talk about cryptic."

"That's my kid you're talking about," I snarled, shooting daggers with my eyes.

Torn beamed at me. "I rest my case."

"He's also your future son-in-law, so let's not start a family feud," I sneered at him. "Copy?"

Torn groaned in response, "Not if I can help it." He took a swig of his drink and nodded to his right. "She's near the side entrance, by the way. Saw her groping Keira's belly."

I nodded in thanks, and slipped through the crowd in search of Darla.

I spotted her by Keira, as Torn suggested. Nica was there as well, her jet-black hair with blue streak tied in a long braid down her back. She caught my eye and lifted her hand to wave, but I guess she saw my expression, because she closed it into a fist. She stepped into my line of sight, placing a hand on my chest to stop me from pressing further.

"Don't," she whispered, gaze rigid and holding me. "Not here."

"You don't even know what's going on." I hissed at her, lifting her hand from my white t-shirt.

"You're going to scold Darla for being MIA."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Okay, so maybe you _do_ know. But it's none of your damn business, Neek. Step aside." I tried to move around her but she stopped me again.

"Go easy on her. She's doing her best."

I held my glare, but everything inside of me was turning to mush. I was split between knowing what Nica said was true and accepting it, and being so pissed off at D that I could scream.

Everyone always defended Darla's actions—rightfully so, of course, considering everything she ever did in life was so she could protect us all. But she never let me in, always went off on her own without just talking to me about it first. She was so secretive, and not simply because she was psychic, which was always an excuse before. It was so much more than that. Darla's reasons were always that she didn't want to bother me, or that she was only trying to keep me safe. But today was the last straw, and I'd just about had it with her. I was calling bullshit on the next excuse.

I tried to display calmness so that Nica would allow me to pass. "Please, step aside, Nica."

She patted my chest, ice-blue eyes narrowing at me suspiciously. She whipped around and went back over to Keira, her braid almost slapping me across the face had I not ducked. _She could definitely use it as a weapon,_ I thought, _and she will, if I get her mad enough._

I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head as I approached Darla. Her back was to me while she talked to the girls, her blonde waves flowing down her bare back, which was exposed by a burgundy-colored, backless body suit. I momentarily forgot what the hell I was doing as my eyes traveled down to her backside, snug in a pair of black jeans. I gulped, trying to remind myself why I was mad and how important it was to voice my feelings—something I was godawful at—and get my point across.

Keira's eyes darted past D's head as she spotted me, and my wife turned around, tossing her hair over her shoulder as her ocean gaze held mine.

 _Goddamn, this is going to be hard._

Darla watched me, unsmiling, knowing exactly what my intent was, even though I was quickly forgetting it. I had walked into this bar ninety percent ready to unleash the beast and ten percent relieved D was safe from harm. But now I was fifty percent ready to unleash one beast, and fifty percent ready to unleash a whole other beast entirely. She tilted her head as I reached her, crossing her arms over her chest, and all the confidence I'd mustered on the drive to Haven City evaporated in a puff of smoke.

I cleared my throat, reaching for her elbow. My stomach flipped nervously.

"Can we step outside for a bit? I need to talk to you."

"We can talk here." She smiled sweetly, but there was hidden meaning behind it.

My focus started returning. _Sixty percent beast_.

"I think it'd be best if we talked privately, Darla."

"There's nothing to talk about, _Jak_."

 _Eighty percent beast._

My eyes clouded with red veins, frustration in me igniting.

"Jak, have a drink on me!" Keira said, laughing lightly to ease the tension building. "Since I can't have any."

"Thanks Keira, but I need to speak with my wife." I said steadily, taking Darla by the biceps and pulling her toward the side entrance. She didn't protest, and I shoved the door open, moving us into the alleyway.

I released her, placing my palm flat on the wall of the building next door, the side entrance slamming shut behind us. The alley was quiet, the sounds of Victory Day celebrators a distant hum. The silence stretched between Darla and I, and I dragged both hands down my face as I turned to her, trying to quiet the demon within.

 _Ninety percent._

Her arms went to her sides, and she stepped toward me. "Jak, I—"

"Give me a minute." I breathed, shaking my head as if to shake the darker half of me away. I unbuttoned the rest of my jean jacket and straightened up, trying to catch the cool, night breeze. I looked up at the starry sky, biting my lower lip, hands on my hips as I resisted the urge to pace. _Breathe man. Come on_.

Darla huffed. "I guess there's really nothing to talk—"

My eyes locked on hers and I hit one-hundred percent. I could feel the dark bubbling up like a pot of hot water, and I grabbed Darla's shoulders. I spun her until she was against the brick side of the neighboring building, causing her to cry out in surprise, and crushed my lips hers.

I was never all that good at the "talking" thing.

She gasped for breath, hands tugging at the hem of my pants before sliding underneath my shirt and up my abdomen. I growled hungrily, pressing her against the wall with my hips, taking her face in my hands. My heart pounded loudly in my ears, increasing in speed as I consumed more of her with each kiss, each sound, each touch, and I closed my eyes.

And I saw nothing but the color red.

I released her at warp speed, leaving her breathless against the brick. I stumbled back against the concrete wall of the Naughty Ottsel, wiping the corners of my mouth. My ears burned like fire and I panted, using the wall for support, as I avoided her gaze like the plague.

"Okay," Darla breathed, her honey-smooth words sending waves of chills down my back. "I didn't...expect... _that_."

I glanced up at her warily, finally ready to speak my mind.

"Where the hell did you disappear to?" My voice rumbled deep in my chest. I shoved a hand into my pants pocket, running the free one over my hair, trying to shake off the _want_ growing inside of me.

She peeled herself off the wall, wincing. "The guys and I had business to take care of. Typical crime-syndicate shit. Nothing to get crazy over."

I laughed, looking up at the sky in bewilderment. "You keep going on these wild, dangerous recon missions with your Freedom Force, or whoever else will do the dirty work with you. It's like you're trying to start a fight." I stepped toward her, pointing accusingly. "We have a _child_ , Darla. We have a child together. Our son needs us. He needs _you_."

"Don't you think I know that?" She said with a snarl, "This has nothing to do with him. I was safe. I didn't tell you where I was going because there wasn't anything to tell. If you knew what my plans were, you would've overreacted like you're doing right now."

"Overreacted..." I repeated with disgust, backing myself against the wall. "It doesn't matter, Darla! You can't just...shut off communications and expect me to be fine with it. You can't shut me out."

"I didn't," she protested, shaking her head. "I just figured you'd be so busy with—"

" _That's enough._ " I whispered, exhausted, holding my hands up in defense. Her mouth snapped shut. "Enough of the lying, the hiding, the _excuses_. I don't know what to do anymore." My voice cracked with emotion, and I hated myself for it. "I feel like we live separate lives, Darla. Like there's me and you, and then there's another version of you that's trying to _kill_ me."

Her shoulders hunched and she wrinkled her nose. "Come on, it's not—"

"I'm not finished!" I shoved my hands into my armpits as if I were cold, but I wasn't. I looked down at my boots, "You aren't blind to what you're doing to me. Keeping things from me as if...as if..."

"As if _what_ , Jak?" Her voice held a hint of annoyance.

"As if you want me to lose my shit!" I said through gritted teeth as she glared my way. "As if you think I can't handle what's going on behind the scenes. As if you think I can't help you or be there for you. As if..." my chest constricted, "as if you don't care how it makes me feel."

Her expression softened and she pouted unconsciously. She reached for me. "Jak, I swear, that's not it at all. We're _partners_. Everything I do is for us, regardless of when or how you find out about it..."

"Bullshit." I shook my head wildly, leaning away from her, avoiding the words I was so used to hearing. It was yet another excuse, and I couldn't fall for it again. " _Bullshit_ , we're partners. You keep _everything_ from me. I tell you everything, come to you with every issue or situation. Or news, both good and bad. We see each other every day, and we talk, and we spend time together and...and _I tell you everything_." As I repeated this phrase, it became all the more real the "partnership" Darla and I shared didn't exist. The vows and promises made in front of our friends and family were almost...worthless to her.

I held my stomach, pressing my hands to it, feeling as though I'd been punched in the gut.

"I'm so goddamn tired of being the last to know about everything." I said quietly.

There was a beat before she spoke again, and this only confirmed my words were true, that I really was the last to know about everything. I was her _husband,_ for Christ sake.

"Everyone seems to have an idea of what you're running around doing except me," I continued, the emotions overflowing, "Like you have more important things to worry about than talking to me before acting. I'm your husband, D." I shook my head again. "Does that even mean anything anymore?"

"It's not that..." She said in a small voice, exhibiting vulnerability I rarely ever saw in her. She rested her head against the wall, gazing at me from the opposite side of the alley. The distance, both metaphorical and physical, made me ache inside.

"Well, what is it then?" I asked, despising the weakness in my voice. Where was that damned beast now?

"You're right, you're absolutely right." She closed her eyes. "I have a bad habit of leaving you out of things. _Especially_ lately. There's a lot going on—it's not an excuse, I _promise_ —and I only want to fix the problems that come our way before they are even problems. I'm trying to prevent trouble so that you won't have to deal with it. So _we don_ 't have to deal with it." She opened her eyes again, and they were glossy with tears. "I truly am trying to protect you, Jak. Protect _them_ ," she nodded at the entrance beside me. "I would do anything to keep you safe. That's the only intention here."

I watched a tear slide over her cheek, tinted black from eye make-up. "But why don't you just _talk_ to me? I don't mean you have to tell me every little thing, but...why can't we face these problems together?"

She didn't have an answer for that, and I didn't think she would. No answer existed.

"You aren't saving me by doing this." I said gently. "You're just...you're _hurting_ me, Darla."

Her teeth tugged on her bottom lip as more tears fell from her eyes. "I know, I'm sorry, I know..." she moaned. "I'm just trying to do the right thing here..."

 _You attempting to do the "right thing" is going to get our family killed._ I thought impulsively, failing at keeping that inner most fear down, the one that was always stewing deep inside of me.

I nodded, a strange sense of contentment washing over me as I realized what the right thing to do for _me_ was. The best thing for our family. "Yeah. I understand." She opened her mouth to speak but I went on. "I really do. I think I'm going to go home now though, okay?"

She blinked, jaw going slack. "What? You're leaving? It's...it's _Victory Day_ , Jak. You're not going to stay...for the fireworks?"

"I've seen them." I turned to the door.

"But...they're Sparxon's favorite..." Her breathing picked up speed and I knew I had to get out of there before she started crying and I forgave her and held her and allowed her to get away with it all over again. I flung the door open and slid back into the noisy bar, leaving her to her thoughts in the alley.

Sometimes the best thing to do in the moment is walk away. Far, _far_ away.

I moved past groups of people, murmuring "excuse me", despite them being unable to hear me. I slipped past Nica and Keira. I sidestepped Maichael, and I found Sparxon sitting on the bar with Dagny on his shoulder. Sparky spotted me, wide eyes blinking, face emotionless. He said something to Dagny, and the little ottsel leapt off his shoulder and ran across the bar toward his father.

I smiled at Sparx, using all the energy I had in me to be strong enough to do what I needed to do.

"Hey, buddy." I said, voice rasping against my will.

He frowned slowly, looking apprehensive. "Dad..."

Aware that Maichael was right next to me—probably wondering why I wasn't celebrating with Darla—I leaned close to Sparx, placing my forearms on either side of him, speaking low enough so only he could hear.

"Do you want to go see the fireworks from my favorite spot in the Port?" I asked, looking up at him hopefully.

He smiled briefly. "I know what you do, Da." I watched his expression, trying to read it. "I _know_. "

I stared at my almost-three-year-old for a moment, then hung my head and sighed. Full of shame, but full of a relief I didn't recognize. I couldn't figure out the source of it, but I wondered if it was just because of Sparxon, and how he just _knew_ things. Whatever those "things" were. I didn't have to say anything, ever, because he made it seem like there was no need.

I wondered then if this was more than simply a child's intuitiveness.

His little hand petted my head. "We can go, Pop."

I peered up at him, realizing the truth about my son. Something I should've already figured out, had I allowed my curiosity to be set free.

I gazed up at him. "You mean that?"

He nodded, watching me with his anxious eyes. "But fireworks first. You said."

"Yes. I said." I breathed and embraced him, lifting him off the bar. His arms hugged my neck as I carried him through the crowd, not once stopping, not for anything. I heard someone say my name—Maichael, I think—but I kept walking until I was out the door and in the busy street.

"Jak, my boy!"

Samos was stumbling drunk just outside the Naughty Ottsel, swatting the little sparrow flying around the log on his head. He reached a hand to me, and I shifted Sparxon to one arm so that I could grab it.

"Leaving so soon?" He asked, lifting his eyebrows.

"I'm taking Sparxon to see the fireworks," I said, glancing over my shoulder. "And then him and I are leaving for Spargus."

Samos squinted his eyes at me. "Kidnapping your own child, hmm?"

"If you want to call it that."

"I call it how I see it!"

I groaned. "Samos, please. Just..." I peeked over at the door to the bar again. "Just...tell Darla I had to. Tell her I'm sorry...no. I _need_ this. He's not safe. Not with her. No—I mean, not while... Things are bad in Kras, Samos... and Darla she..." I couldn't form proper sentences, I couldn't function. I needed to keep going before I changed my mind. "There were hate letters addressed to us..."

"Hmph." Green watched me closely, disappointment clear as day on his face. Being a sage, he had to be aware of all the trouble that surrounded us. "I see. I don't like it... I trust you know what you're doing, but—"

"Let Dad go, Gramps."

Samos and I both looked at Sparxon. He put his head against my chin, reaching for Samos's hand. "Let him go."

Samos took it, staring at my son intently. The two of them seemed to have a silent conversation as they watched one another. It felt like an eternity before Samos spoke, finally releasing Sparx's hand.

"You got it, kiddo." He touched my arm. "Be careful, boys."

I nodded, and Samos went on his way, letting his bird settle on the log at last.

As I hurried to the water, I felt sick at what I was doing...taking our son without a single word to Darla. But wasn't that what she'd done since...since I practically met her? Going off and doing things without so much as a fucking note. And I wasn't doing this to spite her, not in any way. My intentions were obvious. I wanted my son safe. I wanted him with me; not his Aunt Tess, or a babysitter, while his mother went off on her own adventures. Maybe I was being selfish, maybe not. But all I knew was that the best thing for Sparxon was to get him far from danger.

More specifically, the danger his mother was bringing into our home.

"On my back," I said to Sparky. He knew the drill by heart, doing as he was told every time I took him flying. He scrambled onto my back, knees tightening at my ribs. His arms wrapped around my shoulders, hands locking around my neck.

"Ready, pal?" I asked, the sensation of light eco warming me from my core.

My skin glowed with a pale, blue light, and my shoulder blades contracted, the muscles loosening to allow my wings to slide out. The slipped through the slits I kept in my shirts, then through the ones in my denim jacket, before their wispy, feather tendrils draped around my son. His face glowed in their light, and some nearby citizens ogled at the sight of the illuminated growths protruding from my back.

"Ready, set, go!" He squealed into my ear. I smiled over my shoulder at him, and shot up into the sky.

He cheered with delight as we soared upward toward the watchtowers, the massive structures standing tall over the glittering water below. I flew over them, pulling a corkscrew maneuver, feeling my son bury his face in the back of my neck. The wind was sharp and wet on my skin, as if it were going to rain, in spite of the clear sky, and it was refreshing to physically leave my fears behind.

I noticed people gathering on the bridges, docks and piers, preparing for the fireworks Jinx and his thugs had worked on every year since the first Victory Day. I tucked my wings, tightening them around Sparx, and began free-falling toward one of the watchtowers. I pulled up, opening my wings wide to slow us down, and landed gently onto the highest landing.

I pulled Sparxon off my back and sat us onto the ledge, dangling my feet over the side, appreciating the incredible height. He moved into my lap, small hands covering mine holding him in place. I squinted at Jinx's crew on the roof, watching intently as they lit the first row of fireworks.

"Good spot, Pop." Sparky said, leaning his back against me.

I rubbed my face into his messy blonde hair, inhaling shakily. He smelled like his bath-time soap, a scent that was soothing to me and reminded me of home. Reminded me that _he_ was home.

"Sparky?" I said as the first sparklers blasted in the sky above us, dotting the water with reflections of white streaks.

"Yeah, Da?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Mhm!"

I ran my palm over his hair, trying to word the question in a way he'd understand... In a way that would help him answer it and confirm what I thought his answer might be.

"How do you know so much?"

He tilted his head up, indigo eyes wide. "I hear you."

I pursed my lips. "Do you…hear everyone?"

"Yeah," he nodded, looking solemn as he turned back to the colorful, booming sky. " _All_ the people, I hear."

"And you can hear them even if they do not speak?"

"Yeah."

My heart skipped a beat and I swung my feet anxiously. "So, you can hear what's inside their heads, you mean?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "It's loud. All the people are loud." He looked up at me again. "You're the _most_ loud one, Da. Mommy is most quiet."

I smiled. "Why am I not surprised…" I whispered to myself. I pressed my cheek to the top of Sparxon's head as he gazed at the sky. "There's a word for that, you know. Being able to hear what's inside people's heads."

"What is it?"

"It's a big word. It's called 'telepathy', son," I processed the word as it slipped through my lips, "It is a power, something similar to what Mommy has."

" _Telely?_ " Sparxon wrinkled his nose and giggled. "Funny."

A large explosion of blue and green fireworks brightened the sky, making it almost appear daylight, and Sparxon cheered and clapped. More and more colors boomed like thunder, the crowd of tiny ant-like people below roaring with excitement. The display was nearing its end.

Eventually, the final sparklers crackled into darkness, my ears ringing in the sudden lack of sound. The crowds hummed with happiness, dispersing with their families, going home after a fun, eventful day. Sparx and I surveyed the busy streets, and I knew neither of us wanted the moment to end. I was conscious of him listening to my thoughts, and I was sure he heard my dread, reality crashing back down. My mind whirred with concern over what I was doing.

"Time to go home, Dad?" He eventually said, patting my hands as if to console me.

I scooched back against the watchtower, away from the dangerous ledge. "Do you understand what's going on?"

"I know, Da. All times, I know." Sparxon climbed onto my back, leaning over my right shoulder. The side of his soft face pressed to mine, bringing me reassurance. "I pick you, 'cause you know the good thing to do."

"Honestly, kid, I don't know have any clue what the right thing to do is," I licked my lips, "I just want to do what's best for you."

"Yes," Sparx petted the side of my face, the side his own cheek wasn't smushed up against. "That's what you do. Mommy is having trouble knowing your head, Pop. If we go, you will fix it. If we stay, Mommy has trouble. I know her head."

I let the light eco flow through me in preparation for flight. "Do you see her visions, too?"

He nodded. "Sometimes. She got to be empty before we can come back."

"Empty?"

"Her head is clouds. I see the clouds. She stuck in two places." He reached around my neck and held up two fingers in front of my eyes, causing them to cross. "She needs be away from me."

I frowned. "That's not true, Sparky."

"Yes," Sparxon's face left mine as he positioned himself between my wings. "She needs _no_ clouds. If she has them, we can't go home. She can't save us with clouds."

I paused at the edge of the landing, absorbing his words. "Save us? From what?"

" _Dying_ , Da."

I took flight, heading away from the Port. _Dying…_ He shouldn't even know the word. He shouldn't have to deal with any of this. He's only a child, a toddler. He should be carefree and playing, and young and ignorant.

But instead—because Darla and I carried the genes we had—he'd been burdened by a power I wouldn't wish upon anyone. He was cursed as much as he was blessed. What I wouldn't give to save him from everything, shield his developing brain from the thoughts of every single person around him, so that he could just be a normal little boy…

"Love my Da." He said over the wind, squeezing me tightly around the neck.

 _I love you, too, son._

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Darla_.

I watched Jak walk away from me, flinging the door to the bar open before he rushed inside.

" _Fuck_." I moaned, wiping my eyes with my knuckles. I hurt him. But I knew I was going to hurt him, because in order to keep the balance, to ensure we are on the right path of life, to protect him from harm, I needed to lie.

There was nothing I hated more than lies.

The darker part of me, the one whose whispers influenced half of my decisions, enjoyed the secrecy. She lived for the thrill of keeping things from Jak, going against his wishes and doing whatever she wanted. And there was nothing wrong with making my own decisions, but it was hindering my relationship with the one person in the universe who mattered the most—besides my son—in the process.

Jak needed to let me do what I needed to, even if I risked my life. It was for the good of the future. And he knew better than to think I'd just throw myself in the face of danger without seeing it from all angles. I was _psychic_ for Precursor's sake… If something terrible was going to happen to me, I'd do my best to avoid it. He should know better.

Shouldn't he?

 _ **You're missing the point, sweetie.**_

I tapped my head against the brick, making a sound of disgust. _Care to enlighten me then?_

 ** _I'm not one to take sides, but I am half of your mind. Half your conscious. So, I can't help it._**

"Just get on with it." I spat.

 ** _Just because you're psychic, doesn't mean you should leave him out of everything._**

I peeled myself from the wall, my back aching from when Jak shoved me against it. _But the point of leaving him out of it is so that he doesn't get himself killed by trying to be involved._

 ** _N **o**. The point is, regardless of your unique abilities, no matter how strong you are, regardless how good of an excuse it is… He will always worry about you. And, communication is key. If the roles were switched, you'd want to be part of his life as much as he's trying to be part of yours. And right now, you might as well be strangers._**

"You're wrong." I whispered, but since she and I were the same, I knew she spoke the truth.

 ** _Lying and hiding, the secrets and not conferring with him over things… He's outside your bubble. That's not how a partnership works, especially not a "sacred bond" between two people that theoretically makes them "one". You've broken vows, little devil._**

I chewed my lip, feeling sudden shame. I did break some promises. I took advantage of him, of my excuse of being psychic. I'd infinitely used it as a reason behind all I did for my loved ones, for _everyone_. But—other than the last two years—I was one, single person, on my own, making my own choices. Having a partner now, two halves of one soul, being with Jak all the time now rather than being apart on and off for years on end…I hadn't realized that my choices impacted him on a much larger scale.

Everything I did or didn't do as a wife, mother and friend weighed on his shoulders. The fate of the world always rested on his as much as mine. What made me special, what made me any different than him? Just because I saw everything ahead of time, didn't mean I shouldn't involve him, keep him out of it. What made it okay for me to take charge of our destinies and take the weight of it all on my own without bothering to talk to Jak? He worried about me. He loved me.

And all I'd done was push him away.

 ** _You're going to lose him…_** My demon chuckled lightly. _**If you haven't already.**_

I growled to myself, wiping the wet make-up from beneath my eyes again, and headed for the door. _I'm going to apologize to him._

I rejoined the sweltering hot party scene, sliding between bodies to get to the bar. Maichael came into view, and he was sitting on a stool, craning his neck to see over the crowd. His forehead creased with obvious worry as he scanned the room.

"Hey," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling myself the rest of the way through. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said, dragging his eyes down to mine, brow furrowed. "Yeah. How are you?"

"I'll be okay as soon as I find my husband. He said something about going home, but I'm sure he wouldn't leave before Sparky got to see the fireworks…" I glanced around, searching for his blonde head, then peered down the bar seeing all the kids gathered at end of it, laughing and smiling together.

All except mine.

"Hey, where's—"

"Darla," Maichael interrupted, brown eyes narrowing as he looked at me. "Jak was acting strange when he came back in here. He and Sparxon went home, I think…" He slid off the stool, gripping my hand. "Is everything okay?"

My heart began to pound, and I looked around in the hopes that maybe Maichael was mistaken, that Jak and Sparky were still here, waiting for the best part of the evening. But they were nowhere in sight.

"We had a fight," I looked back up at Maichael, panicked. "Jak said he was going home, but I didn't think he'd take Sparxon with him."

"I watched them leave," Maichael started walking us through the bar, "You just missed them. I'm sure they're just outside…"

We hurried toward the entrance, the music and people and chaos growing increasingly louder, bringing me a sense of terror. Something wasn't right, and maybe it was the alcohol, but I couldn't seem to focus on trying to access the future in order to find my boys.

We reached the door and bumped into a drunken Samos the Green Sage.

"Hello, friends!" He hiccuped, blocking our way out. I muttered a "hi" and tried to get around him, but each way I went, he blocked.

"I'm sorry, I seem to be a bit— _hic!_ —tipsy!" The small man laughed, opening his arms wider, as if to stop me on purpose.

 _On purpose…_

I bent down and gripped his shoulders, steadying him. "Samos," I looked him square in the eyes, and as he stared back, I knew he was acting more intoxicated than he let on, "Samos, where are they?"

His smile dropped and he straightened up, his drunken appearance fading.

"I'm sorry, my dear," he looked at me, remorse set in the small frown on his face, "And so is Jak. But it has to be done."

"What are you talking about, Samos?" Maichael turned to me, "What the hell is he talking about?"

"Oh god," I gasped, looking over his head to the mass of people outside. "Samos, where is he? Where's my son?"

"The boy convinced me," Samos moved into the bar and touched my arm. "He showed me what you've seen. Darla, sweetheart…for now, this is for the best."

I shrugged him off, sprinting into the packed street, just as the first set of fireworks burst into the sky. Maichael called after me as I spun in circles, staring at the faces that surrounded me and the skies above me for any sign of my husband and son.

But they were gone.

"No," I wrapped my arms around myself, slowly kneeling to the ground. "No." _He left me..._

"Darla!" Maichael shouted from behind me, and he knelt down at my side. "What is it? What happened?"

I released a sob and flung myself into his embrace. "H-He took him!" I stammered out, "He t-took my son!"

My cries were swallowed by the deafening sounds of the fireworks as they began to color the sky. I wailed in Maichael's arms and he held me on the ground, not understanding what was going on, but there for me all the same.

I became undone there on the street. The two most important things in my life had disappeared as if they'd never been there at all. My boys held me together. Everything I did, every choice I made, every sacrifice was for them. For us. For the future I saw where our family was strong, the future where we took on the world as a clan. As Team Mar.

Jak's words from before rang in my mind. _"We have a **child** , Darla."_

I had pushed them both away. I had gotten too involved in my work, and I had endangered myself, thus endangering my family. And, not only had I been blind to Jak's feelings, but I had been abandoning my son, too. Keeping him at arm's length in the hopes of protecting him, leaving him with other family members and friends so that I could go on missions in order to preserve the future I'd seen for him. I'd made excuses and kept them out of my bubble. I isolated myself from them, thinking I was saving them, when all it did was tear us apart. Without them, what was the point? Without them, what future was I preserving?

Every journey had deviated paths. I should know that by the futures I'd seen and all of their deviations. _I_ had deviated, strayed a bit to far, and I lost my boys in the process.

I had lost myself.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

I arrived at my apartment, shaken from the inside out, still in shock that Jak would do something like this. Something so _rash_. Was he trying to teach me a lesson? Was he trying to hurt me?

 ** _He's trying to save his son from you, before you do something stupid._**

"Just shut your damn mouth!" I gripped the sides of my head.

There was a knock on my open front door—Maichael and Keira, who had driven me home and insisted on being with me so I wasn't alone. Or, more likely, so I didn't lose my shit and turn into the demon I was.

"Sweetie, he'll come back." Keira inched her whale stomach past her husband so she could come inside. "He always come back."

"Except when he doesn't." I groaned. "I've called his communicator, like, a _hundred_ times. He's not answering. He won't speak to me. Where could he have gone?"

"I'm sure they aren't far from home," Maichael wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "This will blow over soon enough. But you royally fucked up this time, D."

"Hey!" Keira snapped, causing Maichael to bump his head on the inside of the fridge. "You were her partner-in-crime, if you recall! You and Torn _both_ dove into Razer's mob house with her _willingly_ , knowing the risks. Don't pretend like you aren't equally at fault here for getting her into trouble."

"D and I _always_ get into trouble," Maichael rubbed the back of his brown-haired head, closing the fridge door. "That's not news to anyone. Especially not Jak." He glanced at me. "But I don't blame him for being pissed off at you. Keira and I talk about that sort of stuff all the time before making major decisions. We share everything."

"Everything?" Keira lifted her aqua eyebrows at him, "Are you sure about that?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. " _Almost_ everything. Just enough to keep you happy."

Keira gagged jokingly and walked over to the island counter. "Maichael and I can stay with you tonight. Keep you company..." She sifted through a pile of mail she spotted.

"You don't have to," I said with a heavy heart, "You're about ready to pop, and you should be home when baby Penny arrives..."

"Hey, what's this?"

Keira waved a red envelope, that was sealed with wax. She handed it to me, and in fancy cursive on the front was "Mr. and Mrs. Jak Mar".

"No return address," I muttered, peeling the envelope open. I pulled out the parchment inside, skimming the letter's contents.

And then I let it float down to the floor.

"What is it, D?" Maichael bent down to lift the letter and brought it close to his face. "What's it say?"

My chest tightened, and instinctively my hands fisted at my sides. I knew this day would come. I'd seen it in my visions for several years. I dreaded it, every day, for the last two. I'd hoped the peace would last longer, thought maybe I'd be able to change enough so that this letter would never arrive in my mailbox.

Razer didn't take the deal. I knew war was coming. I didn't know why, or when. But now that I'd read the letter, I knew exactly what was waiting for me in the morning when I awakened.

"We've been invited by Krew's daughter, Rayn, to attend the reading of his Last Will and Testament." I snatched the letter from Maichael and crumpled it in my fist, rage consuming every inch of my body. I gripped the island, knuckles turning white.

"What?" Keira grabbed the rumpled ball of paper from me, eyes shifting across the page. "What the living hell..."

Maichael and I locked eyes, and I could tell he recognized the look on my face.

The part of our lives I'd been trying to avoid, to put a stop to, the part of our future I was trying desperately to fix...was now officially our present.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

* * *

 **A/N:**

I hate when Mommy and Daddy fight...but I know you guys live for the Jarla saga! The drama unfolds as the late fat-ass, Krew, initiates his curse on our favorite heroes. Are they ready for the race of their lives? Will they survive what Krew has in store for them?

(Yes, we know they survive, but humor me.)

Stay tuned, my friends!

 _~RyJo_


	4. Fighter

**A/N:**

Is it weird that vacation from my actual author job is writing for FanFiction? Yes? I thought so. But I embrace my prime weirdness, tenfold.

On with the next chapter!

* * *

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Jak_.

It was a good day.

Good days were hard to come by. Every time one situation was taken care of, another arose. There was never really any "downtime", even when there was downtime. I'd never gone on a trip before; not alone, not with my wife, not as a family. Sparxon was born, and being the frail little _potato_ he was in the first year of his life, there was no reason to take him on a vacation getaway. And Darla and I didn't go anywhere without him, so we just didn't really go anywhere at all. I figured maybe once he was old enough to enjoy family time away from home, we'd take a nice, long trip. See the world, just the three of us. But that future wasn't in sight yet, so I'd just put it on the list of things to do when I had time. Or chose to make time for it.

But _this_ , right now, felt like downtime. This felt like vacation. This was a good day.

The sounds of the waves rolling along the shore drifted gently through my eardrums; the sand under my bare feet was soft, cooled off from the setting sun. The sky was pink and blue and orange and purple, sparkling on the sea, the water stretching for miles and miles, so far that you couldn't see what lay beyond. The Brink, perhaps? The place I've studied diligently over the last two years, the mysterious location mentioned in my father's documented research files he provided me upon his death? I didn't know for sure, and neither did my father. His research only mentioned something about it being the edge of the planet, the drop-off of our world. But, maybe, that's what truly lay beyond.

For now, the world stretched on infinitely, just like this day with my son.

We strolled the beach together, hand in hand, him pulling me along the shore as if he knew exactly where he was headed. His petite hand was engulfed by my larger one, but- in a metaphorical sense- it didn't feel much smaller than my own. Nothing about Sparxon was small, in that regard. My once infant son was now a human being, with the world before him and a wild life ahead.

It was unfathomable to think that, one day, he would be sixteen and going on adventures with his friends, like I had at that age. It was both terrifying and exciting to know that he would some day feel and think and _be_ as I am, yet be his own person at the same time. He would love and hate, feel fear or show courage. The medallion, our seal of House Mar, was once as big as his skull, and one day he would wear it well. He would grow and keep growing away from the little boy that was now walking beside me, when it seemed like only yesterday he was just my drooling, wide-eyed, innocent Sparky.

"I'm bigger now, Da."

His voice joggled my thoughts. I grinned down at him.

"You're much bigger. Almost as tall as me."

He frowned and halted, turning us to the sea. He gazed down at his toes in the sand, digging them deeper beneath it.

"You miss me small."

"I miss you smaller, sure." I nodded, looking out at the sea as I moved my foot near his. "But I like you more now. We walk together, talk together, play together. We're better pals than before, don't you think?"

He didn't respond and I glanced down at him. He was still frowning. I knelt by his side, placing my hands on his tiny waist, turning him to me.

"I'm not sad about you being big, Sparky." I explained, bowing my head so he was forced to look me in the eyes. "I miss when you were a baby only because you only get to be a baby one time. I'm going to miss you every year you get older. It's not a bad thing; each year that you get bigger is a brand new adventure. Right?"

He shrugged and I squeezed his ticklish sides, earning a tiny giggle from him. I lifted his chin with my finger.

"Think of it this way," I continued, "When you were a baby, you were too little to do all these things with me, like walk and talk and play. But now you're a big kid. You're big enough to tell me we're best friends. You're still my best friend right?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" He jumped into my arms, flinging his own around my neck. I laughed and sat back in the sand, pulling him into my lap. I sighed, petting his sunny-blond hair.

"You're too smart for your own good." I murmured. He patted my back as if I needed some sort of reassurance, making me chuckle.

"I know." He pulled back and looked me in the eyes. "Dad?"

I sighed again, knowing whenever he said my name like this, it always meant he had questions.

"Yeah, bud?"

"I worry."

He worried. Of course, he worried. He was a toddler with an old soul because he could hear the minds of every person around him. He was "too smart for his own good" because everything he heard registered. I should've known something was going on with him. He spoke so much better than the other children. He was far more mature. He had his moments obviously, since he was, in fact, a child. But he never ceased to amaze me, and I should've realized he was simply more amazing than an ordinary boy.

He touched the side of my face. "Don't worry, Daddy."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm worrying about _you,_ boyo."

"I know." He rolled his eyes, too. "But I worry for Mommy. You need to worry for Mommy. Not for me."

"I _am_ worried about her, though." I whispered. "That's why I brought you here. I wanted to protect you. But I'm also thinking about her. You said she needed a clear head. No more clouds."

"Hmm." He nodded slowly, his small brow furrowing. "Yeah. But now I can't hear her. So now I don't know."

"You were right, though." I said, leaning back in the sand on my elbows. "She needed to be away from both of us, even if she didn't want us to leave. Not because of us, but because of the clouds in her head." I picked up a shell by my fingertips. "I thought I took you here to protect you, but I think I knew she needed a break in order to focus on whatever is distracting her so damn much."

"Bad word, Da." Sparxon glared at me with his sharp, indigo gaze.

I smiled. "Sorry. Anyway, sometimes when Mommy gets upset, she needs some time to think. To clear her head. So I give her a little space until she feels better. And Mommy does the same thing for me when I'm upset. That's why we need this. I think Mommy and I both need to get rid of our clouds."

Sparky watched me with wary eyes. He slid off my lap, sitting beside me and facing the ocean. He then wound his arms around my bent leg, resting his head on my thigh.

"You know best."

It came out like a whisper, and he didn't sound anything like my almost three-year-old boy. He sounded like a grown person inside a smaller one's body. I felt like he meant what he said, but there was something condescending about the way he said it. As if, even though I made the best decision for all of us by leaving, he may not think it was necessarily the _right_ decision.

I frowned heavily, my bottom lip jutting out as anxiety crept into my brain. But Sparky suddenly peered over his shoulder at me, flashing me the biggest grin.

"Da, I want to see fish!"

I exhaled with relief. My little boy was back. I smirked at him, lifting an eyebrow.

"How about I take you out on Grandpa Damas's fishing boat tomorrow and we can hunt for lurker sharks?"

Sparxon cried out happily and pounced, scrambling on top of me. I fell back in the sand, feigning defeat as he tackled me. We laughed together, the sun finally sinking deep into the see, the sky a light indigo color, much like my son's eyes were.

My thigh vibrated and Sparxon rolled off of me. I sat up and reached into my pocket for my communicator. I saw Daxter's name on the screen and answered, placing the device to my ear.

"Hey, Dax." I said, watching Sparky move our boots and begin to line them up in the sand.

 _"It's me."_

My heart stopped at the sound of Darla's voice coming through in place of my best friend's. I didn't answer. My mouth ran dry and my stomach turned.

She sighed loudly. _"You were right all along. And I know why you did this. But you need to come home."_

Sparxon made a pattern with our shoes- big boot, small boot, big boot, small boot. I focused on him playing in an attempt to steady my breathing.

I spoke with hesitancy. "I don't know…"

 _"I'm serious, Jak."_ Darla pleaded urgently. _"All the secrecy and meetings you weren't in on, all the plans I'd been making without you... They didn't even work. I tried my best, but I wasn't able to do what needed to be done in order protect us from our next_ _obstacle_." She paused and I heard her suck in air sharply. _"All the lies and our fight and you taking Sparxon away… It was all for nothing."_

I stood up abruptly and took several steps back from my son so he wouldn't overhear our conversation. "What does that mean?"

 _"It means I failed."_

I didn't say anything. I didn't know what the hell she was even talking about.

 _"I still want to discuss what happened."_ She went on. _"I want to mend what's broken, and I promise you things are going to change. But you need to get home **now**."_ Her tone was strong, unwavering. _"Our family needs to be together for us to get through this new chapter."_

I was terrified by what she meant by all of this. Usually when Darla and I gave each other space for whatever the reason, we allowed one another to actually get that space. I was so used to Darla letting me cool down after an argument or bad day, and I always did the same for her. But she _demanded_ that I come home- now- and that could only mean one thing.

Whatever future or fears she'd been keeping from me were finally here, just over the horizon.

The storm had arrived.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Darla_.

I paced the apartment, awaiting Jak's arrival.

I tried to wait a few days before calling him. Almost a week. I knew he'd come back like Keira said, and I knew he was only trying to do the right thing for our family, just as I had been. I thought he'd be back in a few days and we'd fix this and I'd tell him what was about to happen to all of us. I would tell him that a long time ago, I'd had visions that we'd all somehow be roped into a crime war that involved being forced to race for our lives. What was once a fun sport that made Jak thrive would soon become his worst nightmare. I'd tell him I wasn't sure how or why we'd get involved, but there was no way I could've stopped it. I thought he'd be back by now for me to tell him all of this.

But it couldn't wait. The reading of Krew's Will was happening in two days. I had done all I could, and he needed to come home so we could be a family again. There was no time to waste on fighting each other when another battle was already here.

The front door clicked and I gasped with anticipation. My belly warmed, both from nerves and the want to see my husband after days of being apart. The door opened slightly, and it was just Jak's head that peeked into our apartment.

I don't know what I expected. I thought maybe he'd come in guns blazing and in a pissed off mood. Ready to fight me as I tried to tell him the truth. But he didn't look pissed. In fact, he looked far from it.

He looked like a sad, disheveled crocadog. His blond and green hair was in a complete disarray, a spiky mess of bedhead, and his goatee had balding spots. He had a nervous tick where he consistently scratched his chin to oblivion, so I assumed it was from that. He had dark circles beneath his wide blue eyes, which stared at me like I was about to bite him. His shoulders were hiked up to his ears as though he was afraid of coming into the room. His jaw stuck out, his bottom lip in a pout.

I grumbled, almost angry that he wasn't as angry as I felt, but also relieved that he looked sorry. I walked up to the door and pulled it gently open to force him inside. He slipped through the opening, closing the door behind him.

"Where is he?" I asked when I noticed Sparky wasn't with Jak.

Jak rubbed the back of his head, leaning against the door, avoiding my gaze. "I dropped him off at the garage to see Keira and Daxter. I didn't think he should be here for...our conversation."

"I see."

"He already knows too much." Jak went on bitterly, standing a little taller. He crossed his arms, glaring at me accusingly. "He's too young to know as much as he does. Did you know?"

I lifted my eyebrows. "Did I know _what?_ "

"About his powers." Jak said, "Did you know he could read minds? _Everyone's_ minds?"

My chest constricted, but not in the way it did before major visions. No...this was a constriction of panic.

"N-No." I whispered, turning away from Jak so he wouldn't see my sudden terror. "I knew he'd...I _thought_ he'd be able to do things we couldn't, have abilities we didn't have. But I never thought he'd have them so young. I never thought _this_ would be..." I trailed off.

My son, my little boy, was burdened by the consumption of countless minds belonging to countless souls.

My hands rested over my chest and I walked toward the couch. I didn't sit.

"Yeah, well," Jak followed me to the living room, his stance tense. "He knows everything. It's why he's so fucking _smart_ , Darla. Why he speaks so well and why he's always so intuitive. How he always knows _exactly_ what we are feeling and thinking. Why he always says such strange things..." He dragged his hands down his face with clear exasperation. "God, Darla, he can see your _visions_ when you experience them."

We finally locked eyes as I covered my mouth with shame. My job, my life's purpose, was to protect my son. But I couldn't even protect him from my own thoughts. How was I supposed to protect him from everything else?

"How long have you known?" I asked.

He placed his hands on his hips. "Since I took him away. He kept saying things... While we watched the fireworks, I asked him if he could hear people's thoughts. He told me he could. He said he hears everyone. He told me my head is 'loud' and yours is 'quiet', and that your head right now is apparently full of _clouds_ , and that if we didn't leave, you'd wouldn't be able to 'save us'." His breath caught and he bit his lip, gaze shifting to the floor. "He was the one who told me it was okay for us to leave."

No wonder it seemed so easy for Jak to take our son away. Our son told him it was okay. He practically gave him permission for Jak to take him away...all because of me. Because I wouldn't be able to save them.

He was right. I _couldn_ 't save them.

"He knew we were in trouble." I uttered, shocked as well as not shocked at all. I knew my boy was special, but I had no idea how special he'd become.

Jak threw his hands up in annoyance. "Guess so. Seems like everyone has known about it except me."

I made a sound of disgust and shot him daggers with my eyes.

"Please, Jak." I spat. "I'm sorry for hiding so much, but you know damn well it was for your own safety."

He snarled, his upper lip curling. "Oh, no, _I'm_ sorry, Darla. I'm sorry for being worried about you. I'm sorry for feeling left out of your life when it's supposed to be _our_ life. I'm sorry for being the only one who doesn't know how much danger we are actually in, or what the danger even is!"

"Really? _Really?_ " My tone of voice raised at least twelve decimals as I felt my demon stirring in me. I stormed around the coffee table and got up in Jak's face. "Wasn't it always you running around getting into trouble with Dax and the Underground all those years? Wasn't always you who left me hanging, left me worrying sick, left me pregnant and alone-"

"I didn't know about the baby!" He cut me off, throwing his hands up again, eyes flaring. "I was at a crossroads then, D, there was so much shit happening-"

"And? What's your point?" I shouted. "I did my part in the Underground while we kept our relationship afloat and you fought for your life. I _still_ work hard at protecting our family and friends, while working hard in this marriage!"

"But you _don't have to_." He groaned, pulling his hair. "We've been doing just fine without running after our enemies. You don't need to fight, you don't need to do anything! We have our son now-"

"So should I have just sat around these last few years, then?" I laughed humorlessly, jabbing him in the chest with my finger harshly. "Should I have sat around playing housewife while you run off into danger, being the hero?"

Jak looked stunned, eyes wide as saucers. His arms dropped to his sides and his jaw went slack.

"Darla, I haven't been a 'hero' in _three years_!" He yelled, making me flinch. His nostrils flared and he shook his head slowly, looking disappointed in me. "You're the one who seems to have been working that job full-time."

I fell silent. The guilt that had chewed me before was now swallowing me whole. I stared at Jak as he took deep breaths, hands grasping his hips.

A lot had changed with him in the last few years. He was far less reckless, far more overbearing, far more...afraid. But he was also more loving, if it were even possible. He was more attentive, as proven by our most recent argument. And he was so much more mature. He'd changed, and I never noticed until right at the moment he screamed at me.

Maybe I never noticed, because I _hadn't_ changed. I've pretty much been same Darla since Jak and I met...which was not necessarily a bad thing. Jak had become a different person because of all the different experiences he'd faced over the years. He had to fight on a daily basis just to learn how to be who he was right now, while my own growth had been relatively gradual. I just needed to figure out how to better understand him, adjust my own actions and reactions... Maybe I had to be more attentive than I'd been in a while.

I sighed quietly, pressing my palms flat to his chest. I gazed up at him, pressing my body against his. His glare softened as he watched me, then disappeared completely when I moved my arms to the back of his neck.

"You'll always be my hero." I murmured gently. "You don't have to be fighting in a war to be my hero. And I'm not trying to be a hero...but I would do anything to protect you. I did everything I could, including lying, hiding, putting myself in the middle of danger, and hurting your feelings." I touched his face, and he leaned into my hand. "I went about it all wrong. I'm so sorry for that. But you also need to remember that in some cases with my visions...I really, truly can't tell you everything. It kills me, but it's just how it is."

I rose on my tiptoes and pressed my cheek to his. He smelled like the beach; like himself. I breathed him in, relief washing over me that I had him here, in my arms, alive and well. I didn't care if he'd be still mad after this; I didn't care how mad I was that he left with Sparky just to teach me some kind of lesson. It didn't matter, because I knew I still had him. No matter what. And I knew I had to get him through all the awful things headed our way, because it was friends, family and love that kept him going strong and fighting on...kept all of us strong and fighting.

"You deserve so much more than what the world gives you." I whispered. "You have to know how sorry I am and how much I love you."

His arms instantly went around my torso and he squeezed me, groaning into my neck.

"Of course I know, D," he grunted, sounding defeated, "I was just angry, is all. I love the hell out of you. I just want you to remember we're in this together. We need to talk more." He pulled back and glared down at me. "Please, _my_ _darling wife_ , please do this...if not for our relationship then for my _sanity_."

I let out an impulsive giggle and wrapped my arms around his waist. He moved his arms to my shoulders, hugging me to him.

"You drive me nuts." He growled, pressing his lips to mine.

"I know," I smirked. "I'm going to be more honest..starting right now." I pulled away from him, "You're not going to be happy about what I'm going to tell you."

"I'm expecting the worst." He frowned and sat down onto the couch.

 _I don't think you are._ I thought, making my way over to the kitchen counter, where I'd placed a small "I'm sorry, forgive me" token of my love I'd bought him the day before. I snatched up the package and brought it over to Jak, plopping down beside him.

"I got you something," I handed him the box. He glanced at me quizzically.

"We can't solve all our problems with gifts, babe." He said, looking wary of what was inside.

"I know," I gestured to the gift, urging him to open it. "I just thought it might soften the next blow I'm going to deliver."

"Oh God." Jak snorted, then pried open the cardboard folds of the box. His eyebrows furrowed and he blinked up at me. "New goggles?"

I nodded and pulled them out. "Your old ones are so dingy, and the lenses are scratched from the last time you took Sparky in the dune buggy." I ran my thumb over the shining material. "These are tinted for when you're out in the sun...which is a lot. You always get the same pair so I thought I'd get you a better one that will withstand the forces of nature."

I hoped I was convincing enough. I needed him to think they were simply a nice gift, rather than a replacement for the pair that would cause him to go blind in his left eye during a collision in one of the upcoming races he'd be in. We wouldn't get through this if Jak only had one working eye the whole time.

He flashed me a wide smile and leaned over to kiss my cheek. "They're awesome. Thanks."

I took the box from his lap and placed it on the table. I then took his hands in mine and took a deep breath.

"We're in deep shit, love." I tried to sound lighthearted, but it came out so much more grave than I'd intended. "Krew's daughter is in town. She invited us for the reading of Krew's Will, because we're apparently in it. _All_ of us."

"First off- Krew has a _daughter?_ " Jak stared at me, expression incredulous, then shivered. "That's...just... No. Nope. We're going to move on from that immediately. Secondly...why would any of us be in his Will?" Jak glimpsed at our hands in his lap. "I was sure Krew's attack on us was premeditated. There's no way he would leave us with anything."

"Well, he did." I shrugged. "Anyway, we're attending a gathering Saturday in the the top floor conference room at Kras HQ."

"At least we'll have a nice view." Jak rolled his eyes. "So...why are we in deep shit?"

"So, you know how Krew was tangled up in the mob throughout all the cities surrounding Haven?" I fiddled with my fingers, twisting my wedding band around and around. "A regular person would leave people their valuable items, some money, maybe a property. But Krew..." I bit my bottom lip. "He basically left us his mess to clean up."

Jak rested the back of his head against the couch. "Goddammit. That's probably why the crime rate in all the local cities skyrocketed- everyone's fighting for a piece of what Krew left behind. No one claimed anything, so it's all up for grabs."

"Right." I frowned. "And Krew wants to ensure that he's still on top, even though he isn't even here. He wants to preserve his legacy. He wants _us_ to preserve it for him."

"Then how come his daughter never came around to claim what is rightfully hers? Rightfully being the operative word, obviously." Jak scratched his chin, "Why wait until others are after his empire? Why has it taken this long for his Will to be read?"

I glanced to the side, thinking of a way to be vague about this without straight up lying through my teeth. How would I skirt around the fact that we were in worse danger than he could possibly imagine?

"That's the thing," I rubbed my thighs, clenching my fists. "The timing is just right. He planned it perfectly so that his Will would be read at the exact moment he needed it to be."

Jak eyed me warily, his hand slowly falling from his face. His frustrated look and clenched jaw told me that he knew I wouldn't be saying much more about it.

"I can tell by your deadpan expression that there's a bigger reason Krew has chosen this specific date, and you won't be saying anything more about it until after it happens." Jak said, utterly monotone and knowing me all too well. "I can assume that Krew will force us into doing his bidding, and that's what you've been unable to prevent. Which can only mean we are, in fact, in deep shit. And I'm going to be a very, very infuriated man."

I clasped my hands together, twisting them in my lap. "Uh-huh."

"And there's nothing we can do to stop it?"

"No." I whispered. "I tried everything. Searched the future for other paths but…this is one we need to take. It'll bring us out on a better side."

Jak nodded, pursing his lips. His eyes flashed, purple electricity sparking within his irises before they flickered to mine. He then rose to his feet, reaching his hand to me.

"I've had about enough fury in my life to feed the poor." He said lowly. "Instead of being mad right now about something that hasn't happened yet, I intend to feel good for the next few hours while our child isn't home."

He yanked me to my feet, then swung me up into his arms bridal-style.

"Oh?" I blinked in surprise, arms around his neck.

"Even just a few days away from you was torture." He raised his eyebrows at me, his hands gripping tighter. "If it's all right, I want to make up for that lost time. In our bedroom." He leaned his face toward me, grazing his nose over mine. "In our empty apartment. Where we can be as loud as we want."

I internally shivered, closing my eyes.

"Okay." I breathed, and almost immediately, he hungrily crashed his lips to mine, carrying me down the hallway with a determined walk.

It was as if he'd never left.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Somewhere on the west side of Kras City..._

"Roberta," a man drawled as he watched his redheaded right-hand approach, "I assume you've taken a liking to the new gig?"

Roberta smiled anxiously and nodded, trying to show her boss she was happy, when she was actually terrified and desperate to stay alive. Even if it meant wrapping herself around a pole to entertain the men and women of this crime-ridden city.

The west side, plagued by destitution and slum lords owning the streets, wasn't always this awful. Not when Roberta and her boss first arrived earlier this year. It was cleaner, quieter, and in some ways, quite fun. It felt like a new start, even though a new start began with covering up the murder of her _previous_ boss, killed by his own son.

That was their little secret though, Roberta thought, as she placed her boss's whiskey onto the table in front of him. She gazed at him playfully over her thick-rimmed glasses, feeling sick to her stomach at the way he gazed back at her. She must've been some actress to get him to believe she wanted him. His hand glided up her thigh to her bare ass beneath her striptease skirt. She bit her lip in an effort not to cry out and prayed he'd go no further. She'd gone this long without him touching her more than this, and she refused to let anything more happen. She was no longer the same innocent, little mouse she was before she helped murder an old man.

The Precursor's were on her side, because he smiled and dropped his hand. "It suits you. Dancing, of course. Not the stripping; I mean no disrespect." He grinned widely. "Although, I do enjoy watching you strip. You look like a dirty little librarian up on that stage."

"Thank you, Mi-" She cut herself off as to not reveal his real name. "I mean, thanks Blitz." He'd almost killed her the last time she used his true name in public.

He tossed his drink down his throat and adjusted the blonde wig that covered an entirely bald, tattooed head. He almost looked friendly as opposed to the psychopath she'd come accustomed to seeing.

"I told you I'd take care of you." He rose to his feet, tightening his violet suit jacket around him. "You've gone from being a waitress at my first restaurant, to being bartender at my first nightclub, to managing this place and being a wonderful den mother the beautiful girls and guys who live to perform every day and night of the week." He leaned in and kissed her cheek softly. "I'm proud of you, she-wolf. Your pack adores and respects you. That respect is the most important thing."

"I aim to please." She murmured seductively, hating the way it sounded as the phrase left her lips.

"That's right, Robbie." Blitz laughed and winked as he backed away from her. "You do. And soon enough, my empire will grow to the point of no return. This city will be mine; these people and their lives will be mine. With the money we have and the opportunities given, I'll be unstoppable ,and you'll be able to have whatever your cold little heart desires."

He pulled out a cigarette and stuck it into his mouth. He whipped his lighter out and flicked it, inhaling the now-burning stogie. "I'll see you later, toots."

Roberta smiled cheerily and waggled her fingers, waving until the rat bastard was out the door and out of sight.

"Goddamned arrogant _fuck_." She growled, snatching the empty glass off the table. "I swear to the Precursors..."

"Is he gone?" A small voice said from behind her. A short brunette boy, no older than seventeen years, pulled back the curtain to the dressing rooms, searching the strip club with his wide, blue eyes.

Roberta sighed and entered the hall behind the curtain. "He's gone, Sweetie."

Sweetie sighed, mussing his brown locks. "Damn. I get anxiety every time he walks in. How do you do it, Robbie?" He followed her to her dressing room. "How do you put up with his shit?"

Robbie closed the door behind the two of them and pressed her back against it. "I won't be for much longer."

Sweetie narrowed his eyes at her. "Why? Are you quitting the club?"

"Oh, Callum." She shook her head, dragging out the syllables of his actual name. She reached touched his cheek affectionately. "I'd never leave you or the others. I hate to say it, but Good Graphics is my home. You've all become family to me."

"T-Then what do you mean, you won't be putting up with G.T. for much longer?" Callum whispered, eyebrows low.

"I mean," Robbie pinched his cheek excitedly, "I'm going to fucking _destroy_ that cocksucker if it's the last thing I ever do." She released Callum and approached her vanity and switched the bulb lights on, illuminating her pretty face.

Callum stood behind Robbie, taking a hesitant step forward. He watched her with a determined look set in his square jaw. The two of them locked eyes, and he smiled malevolently.

"How can I be of assistance?"

A smile crossed Robbie's face as she realized what he meant. For once, she'd get what she wanted in life. For once, she'd fight back without repercussion.

Finally, she'd be set free.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

* * *

 **A/N:**

I hope you all enjoyed! This one was a little short for two reasons:

1\. I've been SO freaking busy with my publisher regarding my first book (which will be out January 2019!), plus I've been hard at work wrapping up the sequel.

2\. The next chapter is the actual start of the Jak X game, and I wanted to give that chapter special attention!

I know...excuses, excuses. But I love you all and I'm still here. Hope you stick around!

 _~RyJo_


	5. Acid Rain

**A/N:**

It's been over a FREAKING YEAR since I last updated MTLH III. I've been crazy busy, as anticipated with author stuff, and I hate that I haven't given you guys a chapter in so damn long (especially when I'm always giving a shout out to the Fanfiction community to interviewers and articles!). But I finally have a break in the routine after pumping out several hundred pages worth of drafts for my sequel(s), an audiobook, and worked on other projects, and writing Jak's story is my reward for the hard work. (Taking a break from writing with writing…now I just sound nuts.)

Now that we've established I'm the worst, I owe you a good sized chapter filled with all your favorite people. I've reread all three stories as a refresher so I can give you my best!

By the way, did you know I started the original MTLH back in 2009 (before revamping it in 2013, completion 2014)? That's ten damn years ago. Ten years I've had a love for this story and for all you lovely people.

Finally, at long, long last…on to the next!

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Jak_

"I wonder what she looks like." Keira grunted as she lowered herself into a seat at the conference table. "Leave space for her at the head seat, just in case she's too large to fit between any of us."

Daxter leaned back in his seat and clutched his throat. "I can't believe that _Krew—_ " he gulped "— _reproduced_. Who is this chick? Can you imagine what that tub of jelly must look like?"

We all laughed lightheartedly. All except Darla, that is. She sat beside me, her hand clasped in mine on my thigh, and she gazed out the picture windows at the thunderstorm raging on outside Kras City Underground Headquarters. Ironic that it was downpouring the day we had to meet with Krew's daughter, Rayn. The weather suited the foreboding mood, and my arms ached to tangle themselves around my wife.

"What are you thinking?" I whispered to her while everyone else carried on with their speculations about our mysterious host.

"I'm watching our son's life flash before my eyes," she breathed. Her thumb traced circles inside my palm. "It calms me down."

"Oh?" This was the first I'd heard of her doing this. We agreed to start working on being more honest with each other, and I supposed this must be her way of keeping her promise. "Care to share?"

She smiled softly but continued to stare straight ahead. At first, I thought she might not tell me, but then she said, "He's a handsome boy."

I sighed with relief. "Of course, he is. Look at his mama."

She blinked rapidly, as she always did to clear away the visions, and her gaze met mine. "He looks like _you_ , nitwit."

I grinned sheepishly, my cheeks warming, and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"He is trouble like you, too."

"Oh." That wiped the grin from my face. "Crap."

"She's late," Ashelin muttered from where she stood at the other end of the table. "I don't appreciate my time being wasted."

"She'll be here." Darla shot Ash a scolding look, a single eyebrow raised. "This is all too important for her to not show face."

"You know," Torn croaked, "the only reason Ash and I are even here is because we trust you. Otherwise, I don't give a shit what that goddamned son of a bitch Krew put in his Will."

"I know," said D.

"You said we had to come." Thunder cracked outside and Torn winced.

"I did."

"Lay off, Torn." Maichael growled, "You think she's enjoying this? That she _wants_ to be here?"

"Now, now, boys," Keira rolled her eyes skyward as she rubbed her bloated stomach. "Let's not provoke each other before Her Highness the Mob Queen arrives."

I don't know when it started, but I noticed that Darla's hand quivered violently in mine. I stared down at it, watching the shake travel from her wrist, all the way up her arm to her shoulders that caved in, her entire body visibly humming. She hung her head and her breath quickened, and I could hear tiny gasps coming from behind her curtain of blonde hair.

I went to place an arm around her, "Darla, baby, are you—"

" _I'm so sorry!_ "

Her sudden outburst startled everyone in the room. I froze in place, my arm floating above her shoulders, and each of our friends stared at her in open-mouthed shock. Daxter crawled across his seat at Darla's other side and climbed into her lap, his ears drooping low.

"D." I whispered, taking her clenched fist between my palms. Her whole form shook, like she was wracked with sobs, but no sound and no tears escaped her.

The double doors to the conference room opened then, and a woman walked in, her heels clicking along the floor with each stride. She was young, not much older than I, with raven-black hair swept into a neat bun, tanned skin, a thin, pointed jaw and slender frame. She looked like a fashion model from the magazines Dax hoarded for the majority of our lives back in Haven City.

"Thank you all for meeting me here," the woman stated in a commanding, accented voice. She glanced around the table at each of us with light green irises, clutching a bottle of alcohol to her chest. "It looks like some didn't it make it…ah, well." She smiled something small, and it never reached her eyes. "I am Rayn."

The entire table rose to our feet and eyed her in disbelief. Daxter scrambled onto the table, and I was sure he wore most perplexed expression of us all.

Rayn seemed unphased by our unwelcome disposition and carried on, picking up a glass from the tray table behind her. "Before Father died, his wishes were simply: to have his Will played for his closest associates and for us to drink to his passing. This special vintage he kept for the very occasion, to toast his death."

She uncorked the bottle and began filling glasses, distributing them amongst the group, all except Keira. I took mine and regarded it with vigilant eyes. Daxter and I exchanged an uncomfortable glance, and I could practically hear his own thoughts echoing in my head. We were the reason Krew was dead. We killed him ourselves.

Coming here was a mistake.

Darla stared into her cup with a look of distaste as Rayn raised her own.

"Here's to old friends, and to Father's untimely death."

Everyone except me downed their drink; even Daxter, who I was certain would think it was poisoned. I watched each person, my eyes darting to each of their faces, until I landed on Darla's. She seemed to take a deep breath before she herself tossed back her cup. She placed it back onto the table and turned back to Rayn, and I could easily tell by her stance she knew I'd watching her. And as Rayn drank her own cup of unidentified alcohol, I caved and sipped my own despite my concerns. It burned going down, and as it hit the pit of my stomach, I knew something must not be right.

Perhaps it had been how quickly Darla swallowed her cup, or maybe it was just the unease and tension in the room. Whatever it was, my instincts kicked in and instantly made me nauseous, like I needed to expel the drink immediately in order to save myself. I sensed the danger more than I knew if there really was any danger.

But Darla had done it, and I had to trust her.

I gulped down the entire glass, my eyes watering as I tried not to gag.

Rayn smiled at each of us and placed our cups down. "So, without further delay, his message to us."

She took a seat at the head of the table and placed a hologram box down onto the table in front of her, each of us returning to our spots. She touched the top of the box, and a beam of light shot upward, revealing a holographic mass in the shape of that hunk of lard, Krew.

 _"Hello, nearly friends…and mostly enemies,"_ the deceased image rasped, fanning himself as he used to, _"If you are listening to this message then I must be dead. Oh well… As you all know, I loved racing, almost as much as I loved weapons. Alas, I never fulfilled my living dream of winning the biggest race of all: The Kras City Grand Championship."_ His fat hologram floated around the table behind his daughter. _"But even in death, I will field the greatest racing team ever assembled, and win the biggest race on the planet."_

Holo-Krew spun around, and I could swear he looked right at me as he said, _"You are the best of the best, and you will race for me."_

Daxter, Torn and I all rose from our seats, verbally protesting as though Krew were really here.

"Forget it!" I shouted, as Daxter spat, "No way!"

 _"I suspect you're all riled up by now,"_ Krew continued with a malevolent smirk, _"So let me tell you why you will race, and you will win."_

A sickening feeling pooled in my stomach and I sat back down, and the aftertaste of the drink lingered in the back of my throat.

 _"If all went as planned, you just gave a touching toast in my honor. Sorry to say, but I poisoned that special vintage! Quite unsporting of me, really—"_

"Father!" Rayn launched from her seat, her burgundy eyes alight with shock.

 _"This is where Rayn probably gets upset. Sorry, dear."_ He turned in her direction as though he knew where she stood. _"It's a slow-acting poison, or you'd already be dead. You have just enough time to finish this year's racing season. If you race for me and win, my associates will provide you each with an antidote to the poison. Simple, eh?"_

Ashelin glared directly at Rayn and whipped out a pistol from her holster. "What the hell did you do to us?"

Rayn fell back into her chair, hands raised defensively. "Please! I didn't know. I drank it, too." She grimaced and turned away from the barrel in her face. "Father never did play favorites."

Everyone was on their feet now, the air thick with tension, and Torn was the next to lash out.

"Yeah?" He growled. "Well, your father is fucking crazy!"

"We're all crazy for coming here!" Keira cried out, holding her pregnant stomach. I was certain she thanked the Precursors repeatedly in these last few moments that she was with child and came nowhere near sipping that poison.

I raised my hands up and walked around the table with caution, trying to keep everyone calm.

"I think Rayn's telling the truth." I muttered as Daxter miserably fell back onto the table.

 _"Well it's been one minute, so I figure by now, you're all arguing about how to get out of this mess,"_ Krew's hologram startled us all. _"My advice is trust no one, win the race, and save yourselves."_

The transmission ended, and Krew's final goodbye was signed, sealed and delivered right into our bloodstreams.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Ashelin launched herself across the table toward my wife, instantaneously sending the two of them tumbling to the ground. Everything happened so fast; Keira screamed, Maichael moved to console her, Daxter planted himself directly in front of Rayn in case she tried anything, and Torn and I rushed at the girls just as Ashelin landed a solid punch to Darla's face.

The commotion was unlike any fight I'd ever seen among friends, and as Torn and I avoided Ashelin's elbows, I thought to myself how it was all because, for once, our trust in one another was about to be tested.

 _"You knew!"_ Ashelin screeched, exposing Darla's throat by pulling her golden hair. "You knew, and you still let us drink it!"

Darla stared at her out of the corners of her eyes, one already swelling and half-closed. She said nothing, breathing heavily through her nose, her expression utterly deadpan.

Ashelin let out another scream and wrung her hands around Darla's neck. Torn and I simultaneously grabbed hold of her arms and yanked her back. She released Darla, whose head hit the floor with a heavy thud, and let us drag her away. Ash's body went limp and she hung her head, like she was giving up the fight before it had even started.

Darla rolled onto her side and scooted backward to the wall. She rested against it and swallowed hard. I let Ash go and cautiously approached D, worrying that any sudden movement might scare her off in some way, like she was a cat stuck in a tree. Her eyes followed my every movement until I squatted down beside her. I brushed her hair out of her face, grazing my thumb over the fresh cut across her eyebrow.

"She fucking knew." Ashelin murmured from behind me. She made a sound much like a sob, but when I glanced over my shoulder, it didn't look like she was crying.

"Stop it, Ash." Torn hissed at his wife, heaving her up off the floor and placing her in a chair. He kneeled in front of her. "Darla has kept plenty from us in the past, and for good reasons, too."

"This is different." Ashelin glared at me then with a fiery intensity. "Did you know, Jak?"

I shook my head and rose to my feet. "I had a feeling something was going to happen soon. But...I didn't expect this."

"How long?"

We all turned to Keira, who had spoken so softly, it came out like a whisper. She was clutching Maichael by the front of his shirt, her eyes wide and bloodshot.

She asked again. "How long have you known this was coming, Darla Mar?"

Again, we all turned, this time our attention on D.

She swallowed again, her neck red with the imprint of Ashelin's fingers, and she avoided looking at anyone.

"For the love of the Precursors, D!" Keira shrieked, pounding Maichael's chest once with her small fist. "Tell us!"

"Years." Darla spoke hoarsely, straining her voice to speak. Her gaze shifted to mine. "Years, and years, and years."

The room grew still, felt almost cold, as each of us let this news sink in.

Darla kept secrets. This much I knew. _Everyone_ knew. It was for our own protection, and we could live with that. I did my best not to question my wife or her choices when it came to the future. We all understood the severity of meddling with time and the order of the universe.

But Ash was right, in a way.

This was different.

"You had all this time." Keira shrank against Maichael. "You had all this time to try and prevent this from happening. What went wrong? Or…" Her eyes narrowed. "Or did you just choose to set the problem aside until it was convenient for you?"

"Hey!" Maichael grabbed Keira's shoulders and held her an arm's length away. "That's enough, Keira! You know better than that. You know everything Darla does is for the good of our family. She's proven that time and time again."

"Has she?" Ashelin sat up straight and glowered. "I mean, really, has she? How many people have died because she claimed that they were 'unable' to be saved?"

Maichael whipped around. "You've got to be kidding right now. Think about what you just fucking said." His nostrils flared. "You ask how many people were lost, but don't you realize how many are alive because of the difficult choices Darla had to make? Don't you realize, if it weren't for her, none of us would be here?"

"My point exactly!" Ashelin argued. "Look where we are now! We're sitting here with poison blackening our insides, forced to race for the antidote. She could've warned us!"

"There's obviously a reason she didn't." Daxter said softly, his tugging his cap low over his head. "There's a perfectly good explanation."

"Why doesn't she tell us then, huh?" Keira stepped away from Maichael and crossed her arms, eyeing him cagily. "You know, you're always defending her. Darla can do no wrong in your eyes, can she?" She waved in my direction. "Even Jak gets into it with her. Her own husband, who should always be on her side." I winced at her words, ashamed at this truth. "But you always seem to back her up, even in the worst situations. Best friend or not, she has put us all in danger!"

 _"That's because I believe in her, goddammit!"_ Maichael's voice boomed and he gripped his dark hair. "Don't you guys get it? She has done everything she can to make sure we survive this world as long as the universe allows." He eyed Torn and Ashelin. "She has fought for you, fought _with_ you, even when you didn't deserve her help." He glanced at me; his eyebrows creasing together. "She has sacrificed for you, made difficult choices, and she's even given up her own happiness just to put smiles on your stupid faces and make sure you're okay." He gazed down at the oak conference table. "She has _suffered_ for you. Every fucking one of you, she has suffered for. She's a hero, and you'd all be lying to yourselves if you said otherwise." His fists shook. "I'll be damned if I'm going to stand here and let you all put the blame on Darla!"

"Maichael."

We all looked at Darla as she sluggishly stood up. I reached out to help her, but she shook her head, declining with such a polite wave that it made the guilt inside me twist my guts.

"You don't have to defend me. I'm okay." She sighed. "I expected this sort of reaction. And I understand how all of you feel. Yes, everything I do, every choice I make, helps guide us down the best possible path to the best possible future. But I know it's impossible for you guys to know that."

I watched as every single one of our friends avoided looking at Darla as she spoke. Whether out of shame, or distrust, or just plain anger, I wasn't sure.

"I knew this day would come for the longest time," she went on, "and I hope you know that every action I take—or don't take—leads us down the better path. Every day is a fight to reach the finish line, to survive up to very end. You don't have to trust me. I suppose you have no reason to. But it doesn't matter." She walked around me and stopped beside Ashelin. "Because I'm going to keep moving forward."

Ashelin pouted and sank in her chair. Darla reached down and squeezed her shoulder in a supportive way.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," she said, "I'm going to go home and hold my son."

She let Ash go and headed for the door. My feet felt glued to the floor—I wanted to chase after, and I would, but I needed to state my case before I did.

D yanked the conference room door open and paused. "Oh, Rayn?"

"Y-Yes?" Rayn looked over her shoulder, and her lips pressed in a thin line.

Darla smiled something small.

"I see you."

The door closed behind her.

Rayn returned to her seat and shrunk down, and the entire room seemed to relax at that moment. Darla's words made the air thick and I could practically see everyone's gears turning in their head as they tried to come to terms with what the hell was going on.

I cleared my throat to get their attention, straightening my shirt collar anxiously as all eyes fell on me.

"Everything Maichael said is true," I stammered out, "Every word. You've all seen first hand what Darla has done for us. And Keira," her turquoise eyes fell on me, "what you said is true as well; that Darla and I often…'get into it', so to speak. But it's not because I don't support her or believe in her. It's because I hate watching her suffer, knowing there is truly absolutely nothing—not a _single thing_ —I can do to help her, or save her from what she sees."

Keira's pointed ears burned crimson then and she nodded slowly. I looked around the room at my friends.

"I'm not the best husband." I chuckled humorlessly. "Frankly, I'm not at all sure I'm even a _good_ husband. But I'm doing the best I can. _She's_ doing the best she can. I know you're scared—I am, too. I'm also content in the fact that Darla knows what she's doing. She's gotten us this far." I opened my arms wide. "We're alive, aren't we? We have good lives. We have great families. Nothing's ever going to be perfect, but before today, we came pretty damn close."

"I've never doubted Darla for a second." Daxter stomped his foot on the table. "I'd do anything for that chick after everything she does for me on a regular basis. _Anything_ , you hear?" He trudged along the table, narrowing his eyes as he pointed his finger at every individual person. "I'll choke out any one of you for upsetting my girl." His finger stopped on Rayn. "Including you, toots. I've got my eye on you."

Torn took Ashelin's hand then, pulling her to her feet. "You guys don't have to worry about my trust in her. And Ashelin will come around."

She shot him a look and yanked her arm away, placing her hands on her hips. "So, we're doing this then? We're racing for Krew and attempting to win the Kras City Grand Championship?"

"We can do this." I pounded my fist into my palm. "We can race, and we can beat Krew at his own game.

"We'll win. We have to." Torn nodded fervently. "I'm sure Darla has already seen us victorious."

"You assholes better be right." Ashelin gritted her teeth and headed to the exit. "I'm going to go pick up Tara."

"Before you all depart," Rayn finally spoke up, gathering up her paperwork from the table. "Father bought us the best mobile racing garage money can buy, and each of you has a racing car waiting. We're in this together," she smiled sadly, "so let's get to it."

"Fucking fantastic." Ashelin whipped the door open and stormed out. She peeked her head back inside for one final comment. "We're not your friends. So, stay out of our way if you want to live."

Torn grinned sheepishly at Rayn as he followed his wife out.

"Well, that's it then." Rayn exhaled long. "Sorry for the trouble I've caused. I had no idea my father could be so…I just never thought he'd…"

"Don't worry about it." I interrupted. "Seems like you didn't know him as well as you thought. He played us all."

"He did indeed." Rayn frowned deeply and sighed. "I'll contact you all when training begins. The championship is rapidly approaching, and we need to prepare. I have several calls to make, more so now that father has…" She shuddered. "I'll leave you all to it."

She briskly left the room without a second glance.

"Weird girl." Keira grumbled.

"Jak," Daxter hopped down to the floor and stared up at me, "next time you invite me to one your little parties…don't."

I rolled my eyes and gently kicked him with the toe of my boot.

"Buddy," Maichael caught my attention, "You mind if I have a word? Alone?"

I eyed him strangely, as did Keira, but nodded slowly. Daxter ran around the table to scramble up Keira's body and sit on her bloated belly. Keira glanced at me, her cheeks flushing the same embarrassed color as her ears.

"Hey, uh…" she started, "Jak…I'm—"

I held up my hand to stop her. "It's okay, Keira. Don't worry about it. If anything, you…you should talk to D."

"I'll go there now." Keira nodded. She lifted Dax off her stomach and placed him on her shoulder before they, too, left the room.

Maichael and I were alone.

"So, Kazzi," I said nonchalantly, trying not to let the awkwardness seep into my voice. "What is it you want to discuss?"

"I overstepped." He responded instantly, rubbing his forehead. "I didn't mean to undermine you as a husband. It wasn't my place to defend Darla."

"You're right." I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. "That's supposed to be my job. But I failed to do it. You stepped in and said all the right things, all the things I didn't have the balls to just fucking say."

"I…" Maichael's hands fell to his side. "I thought you'd be mad that I crossed a line."

"I think the old me would've been." I shrugged. "But I'm more furious with myself for not honoring my duty as a partner and backing Darla up." I groaned loudly. "I'm really not good at this shit. I can't even fight for my wife until after she leaves the damn room."

"That's not true."

"It is. I want to work on that. We're both working on our relationship, and that's something I really need to fix about myself." I turned to him. "I'm not a mute anymore. I need to open my trap and say exactly what I think and feel."

"Darla mentioned you didn't speak for a majority of your life." Maichael said, "I find that hard to believe with a mouth like yours."

I laughed and shook my head.

"Listen," Maichael meandered around the table and leaned back against it. "I know you and I had our ups and downs in the beginning because of how close I was with D, and I didn't trust you, and you didn't trust me, and we both wanted what was best for her." He jabbed a thumb at his chest. "And I'll defend my position as her best friend until the day I leave this world. But I hope you know…you are my brother. I'm on your side as much as I'm on hers."

I nodded and patted his biceps. "I appreciate that. Same goes both ways—Keira is my best friend, too, and I see you as a brother." I scratched my jaw, and my face warmed. "I'll admit, I was jealous for the longest time."

"Of what?"

"Of you and D." My shoulders hiked up to my ears. "I'd missed out on the lost years we could've spent together, and you'd swooped in as the hero she needed while I was gone. I hated that. I resented you, and I resented myself for it, even though I knew it wasn't my fault I'd been stuck in prison."

I shuffled my feet, the familiar, dull ache of the memories filling my head. "I hated that she and I were different people after that gap of time. I hated that you grew together when she and I grew apart. I hated that she was so strong and brave because you'd helped her build a fulfilling life, and I hadn't been the one to succeed with her…" I paused. "It was maddening, but I don't think I ever once hated you. Jealousy aside, I had a deep respect for you. And that's probably what I hated most of all."

Maichael made a _tch_ sound and gave me a knowing look. "Man, you had nothing to worry about back then. And now, you sure as hell don't have to worry about being good enough for her. Don't be so hard on yourself. You two are endgame. Always were. She told me a ways back how far into the future she'd seen, even though she never elaborated on what it was she saw. She knew you'd find each other." He reached out and gripped my shoulder, bending to my eye level. "Even at your worst, or her worst, you'll have each other's backs."

"Yeah. I know." I inhaled and attempted to stand taller. "I've just got to do a better job at showing it."

"We'll get through this next chapter." Maichael guided me to the door, his hand warm on my back. "The others are just upset. It's going to be okay. We're going to kick ass and take names, get that antidote and live like fucking kings when we jack Krew's winnings. Racing is your M.O., dude."

I grinned at him, the confidence finally returning.

"You've got that right. 'Racer' might as well be my middle name."

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 _Darla._

I buried my face in my son's blond hair as he hugged me tight. His hugs were my most favorite thing in the whole world. He always used his entire body and wrapped himself around me like a vine, rubbing his face against mine. Tears streamed down my face as I thought about how, one day, he'd be too big to hug me like this, too old for me to hold him in this way. I did this as often as I could, soaking in his childish energy. I needed his hugs, especially right now.

"I'm sorry, Mommy." He still couldn't properly say his "r's", so the word came out more like "sowwy". It made me smile.

"You're a big help, baby." I squeezed him. "You make everything better."

He pulled back and kissed my forehead. "Don't be silly."

"I'm not."

He raised his eyebrows with the most skepticism I'd ever seen on a child, looking exactly like his father.

"You want me not worryin'." He lightly touched my swollen, shadowed eye, courtesy of his Aunt Ashelin. "I worry still."

"I don't like that." My smile fell. "I wish I could take that worry away from you, Sparky."

"Not me." His indigo eyes flared up. "Then I wouldn't know your head."

I sighed and leaned back against the bedframe. "That's my point. If you couldn't hear inside my head, or everyone's head…then you wouldn't have to worry or be afraid. You could be happy, like Tara and Dagny. Like baby Penella will be, when she arrives."

"Ma, I'm not afraid. I worry. Everyone has a worry." He tilted his head and grinned toothily. "And I'm happy. The _biggest_ happy! More than all my friends."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better." I wrinkled my nose at him.

He grabbed me by the face, smushing my cheeks together, and he looked deeply into my eyes.

"Know what I wish?" he asked.

"What's that?" I mumbled through chubby cheeks.

"I wish _you_ could see in _my_ head." He sighed. "Then you would know I'm the biggest happy."

I couldn't help but giggle at this. I ruffled his hair and hugged him tight. "I believe you. But I'll never stop worrying about you. Not even when you're grown."

"Me, too, Mommy."

I heard the click of the front door and the jangle of keys, indicating that Jak was home. Sparxon perked up, eyes widening with excitement. There was a rap at the bedroom door before it opened, and Sparxon flew from my bed and launched himself onto the floor, barreling his little body into his father's knees. Jak scooped Sparxon up, lifting his giggling little body over his head and kissing his face furiously, before placing our little boy over his shoulder. He carried Sparx to the bed and tossed him onto it like a rag doll.

"We you good for Aunt Tessie today?" Jak squinted at him knowingly before climbing onto the mattress.

"The best." Sparxon gave his father his version of a wink—blinking one eye and then the other.

Jak shook his head and plopped down beside me, sliding Sparxon under the covers between us.

"Did Keira stop by?" he asked me softly.

I nodded, twiddling my thumbs. "I opened the front door to see Dax consoling her sobbing, soaked-in-tears self. Couldn't get a word out, the poor thing." I shook my head. "I just hugged her, said all was forgiven, apologized myself, and sent her on her way."

I felt Jak watching me as he played with Sparx's hair.

"You know," he started, "About what happened back there…"

"I know, love."

I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye. He then climbed under the covers with me and Sparky, scooting closer so that our son was squeezed between us. Sparky reached for his stuffed lurker shark hiding beneath the blankets and pressed it to his chest, sinking against the pillows.

"There's not a lot I've had faith in," Jak whispered, "But you know I've always had faith in you, right?"

Sparky shook his head at Jak. "'Course she does, Dad!"

Jak and I locked eyes and wore similar, stunned expressions in response to this.

"Guess we'll never have any secrets in this family, huh?" I laughed as I slid down farther beneath the covers.

"He'll learn to control his powers," Jak sighed, rubbing his face against Sparky's and closing his eyes. "If I was able to do it, he will can, too."

I hummed in agreement. "You should see him, Jak. He's a lot like you." I rolled onto my back. "Lucky for him. I wouldn't want him to be like me."

Jak propped himself up on his elbow. "Don't say that. Sparky is _exactly_ like you. I see it whenever he sasses me."

Sparky giggled at this, though his indigo eyes were closed now. Jak and I stilled, listening to our little boy's breathing grow heavy as he soon embraced sleep.

I mirrored Jak's positioning and gazed at his face. "I know he's got some good parts of me. But I carry far more bad parts. Genetically and mentally. It scares me, not knowing for certain what he'll get from my side versus yours. I can only tell what he's like from my visions."

I locked eyes with my husband. "He's all you."

Jak frowned deeply, his eyebrows furrowing. "You don't have a single bad bone in your body. And we both have veins coursing with the darkest eco there is, so that's saying a lot." He reached over and started stroking my arm. "Why the hell would you say that?"

I gave him a skeptical look. "Baby, please. Even before I was part-monster, I was an Acheron. Born into a family of lunatics. Don't you remember?" I unintentionally pulled my arm away from his touch, and tried to cover it up by repositioning how I was laying. "My brother and my sister both had addictive personalities, even before the eco. They had malicious intent. They had violent tendencies, and bad tempers, and awful habits." I squinted as I thought back. "I don't remember my parents. I don't even know if I ever actually had any. It was always just us three, just Maia, Gol and me."

Jak watched me, waiting for me to go on. I could tell he wanted me to keep talking about it—about my past before him—since I had all but erased it from mind. This was the most I'd ever spoke of the matter in all the years I'd spent as the new Darla. My life as an Acheron was out of sight, out of mind. Jak never asked, and I never gave it a thought.

But now I had a baby. And even though I hated to admit it, my baby was half-Acheron. I knew he'd grow up okay from all I'd seen thus far in my visions, but who was to say he didn't have the occasional malicious intent, or violent tendancies, or an addictive personality because I passed that gene down to him? Combine that with his natural-born, dark eco infused blood, and what do you get?

I had no idea, and that was the scary part.

I scooted up so that my back rested against the headboard.

"Misty Island had flowers," I told Jak. "I remember the smell of lilacs and freesia, and I remember meadows of them. I used to think it a dream more than a memory, but I know it was real, because if I close my eyes, I see Gol taking me there."

"You _did_ tell Daxter and me when we met you that Misty Island hadn't always been so gloomy," he whispered.

I nodded. "I remember that much. Before the lurker rebels invaded, before Gol and Maia struck Dark eco ore and took command of their troops, Misty Island was beautiful."

I looked over at Jak. "My brother would bring me through one of those meadows once a week on our way to a strawberry patch. It's the only clear, good memory I have of my childhood." I thought about Gol's hand in mine, the feel of the prickly green grass beneath my bare feet as we walked. I remembered the sun on my face, and the breeze blowing my wispy, blonde curls back.

 _Gol had golden hair, too…before,_ I recalled. _Just like mine._

I smiled sadly. "My brother was handsome. I can see how he looked before when I try really hard to remember. It's just…funny how quickly a person can lose their entire identity to one, dark substance." I stared dead ahead at the wall. "My sister was a bit of an instigator. I suppose that should've been the first sign that we were all too young to be raising ourselves. I don't remember the switch they made from good to evil, either. I don't remember if it was gradual, happened over time, or if it was all at once. But the rebels arrived on the island's shores when I was ten. And then suddenly my siblings were leading them. They massacred my village and burned my island to its stone roots. And I sat idly by, babysat by this female lurker who kept me on a literal leash like a pet.

"I'm almost certain my brother and sister were very mentally ill," I went on, "and I have no idea why they kept me alive so long when they had no love left to give. As far as I'm concerned, maybe they killed my parents. Or maybe they're victims of something my parents did to them before they abandoned us. Or maybe our parents leaving, or dying, is what triggered Maia and Gol's psychotic breaks. I have no idea and I'll never know." I paused to look down at my little boy, so innocent and sleeping soundly against my side. "All I'm certain of is that they were sick. I've had my moments as well, the weakest moments you can think of. I don't want Sparxon to suffer with mental illnesses that I gave to him."

Jak sat up right and caught my eye, then snatched up my hand, clasping it in his.

"You overcome your demons daily," he breathed, squeezing my hand. "We both do. And Sparky is happy. Sparky shows signs of a healthy little boy ready to take on the whole world. I think we're awesome parents, and he's a fantastic kid, and he's going to live a wonderful, fulfilling life."

I tried to look away and he tugged my arm, making me lean closer to him over Sparxon. We were so close, our noses touched and I impulsively held my breath.

"But if a problem arises," Jak continued quietly, his expression hardening, "we will deal with it together. If Sparky needs help, we will get him all the help he needs. If he is in pain, we will ease it. If he is in trouble, we will get him out of it." He pecked me softly on the lips, his mouth lingering for a moment. "He is our son, Darla. There's no point worrying about what could go wrong in his life, or any of our lives. He's our son, and we will always, _always_ be there for him, no matter what."

I gazed at my husband in sheer wonder, tears springing to my eyes. I took Jak's face in my grasp and kissed him something fierce, just as my sleeping Sparxon turned onto his side and snuggled against my hip. Jak and I looked down at our boy, and we both smiled, first at him, then at one another. We slid back down under the covers, I watched Jak's eyelids droop as he soon fell asleep with Sparky between us.

I'd always thought myself a strong, independent, fierce warrior. I'd always felt it was me against the world, even though I had a partner fighting by my side. But in that moment of despair, Jak once again made me realize how badly I needed him. He reminded me that I didn't know what I'd do without him. He kept the demons out, and that gave me all the hope in the world.

 **JDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJ**

 **A/N:**

Figured I'd throw in a little bit about Darla's past since it has been something she has long let go. Also, mental health awareness is super important, and you should all know that you are loved no matter what goes on in those brains of yours. Get the help you need, if you need any help. Help someone else in need. Take care of each other in general, and be kind to each other. We're all Earthlings. We all deserve love.

Til the next one!

 _~ RyJones_


End file.
